To Shed a Little Light
by RhiannonoftheMoon
Summary: [2nd Pl Serial and Alt Pairing IYFG 2nd Q 06]Sequel to “Darkness”. Kagome has a dirty little secret that she doesn’t want to share…but she’d like to know what the secret is, too! Or who, to be exact. SK, citrus, language, all the good stuff.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Sequel to "Darkness". Inspired by a story that I will name at the end of the last chapter (though if you want to guess, put it in a review). Still lacking in substance and shamelessly lemony! Hope all you out there who wanted the sequel are happy.

This picks up right where "Darkness" left off. Remember, this takes place at the beginning of the series – Shippo, Sango, and Miroku have yet to join the group, Kikyou has not been revived, but Inuyasha has fought Sesshomaru for Tetsusaiga.

To Shed a Little Light

Chapter 1

Kagome couldn't help the dreamy smile that curved her lips as she stirred the merrily crackling campfire and ignored Inuyasha's suspicious glares and obvious sniffs in her direction. She simply felt too good, albeit sore between her legs, to care what the stupid hanyou thought. Her demon lord had come back to her and all was right with the universe.

He'd insisted that she keep her eyes closed when he'd approached her in the hot spring and, in fear that he'd leave her if she disobeyed, she'd squeezed them shut and resisted the urge to peek at the male who bent her over the submerged boulder on which she'd been sitting and took her from behind. Gently at first, then he had pounded into her with wild abandon and she had bit back the cries of pleasure that struggled to burst forth. It was over too fast, both of them slamming into shattering orgasms that had left them trembling in the steamy water. With a tender nuzzle of her ear and sharp smack on her backside, he was gone, and Kagome had thoroughly washed again before leaving the spring, donning her make-shift pajamas, and returning to camp.

Inuyasha had a strange light in his eyes now, and she tried to push her amorous encounter out of her mind. He was an inuhanyou, after all, and who knew what he could smell with that sensitive nose of his. She wondered what kind of demon her lover was, and if he had as keen of a nose. He had smelled her blood when the blisters on her feet had popped and oozed, but she had no idea how subtle that kind of odor was. Hell, she didn't even know what Inuyasha smelled – she'd washed all of her lover's stuff off her body.

She supposed she should be a little ashamed, or at the very least annoyed, that an unnamed, unseen demon was using her for sex, but she loved every minute of it. It was an unseemly thing to do, something that a properly raised girl would never dream of allowing to happen. She could only imagine the looks on the villagers' faces (let alone Kaede's or her mother's) if they found out she was screwing a demon lord! Not much of a pure miko, was she?

She didn't really think of herself as a miko, anyway. The villagers had thrust that role upon her because they thought she was the reincarnation of priestess 50 years dead. Their gifts and obeisant manners had been novel, if unnerving, for the first couple of days, but now she was downright tired of it. Spiritual powers or no, sacred jewel or no, she was still just a teenager with homework to do and boys to ogle. Too bad she had yet to ogle hers.

Why was it that he refused to reveal himself to her? Perhaps he was hideous or deformed, but she couldn't believe that; after all, she'd touched most of him and he felt beautiful. His voice did sinful things to her: she could listen to him read financial reports and still get all hot and bothered. No, he had to have another reason, and the fact that it probably existed did nothing to burst her bubble of romance and sexual gratification. Let him keep his secret, as long as he kept coming back.

A piece of wood in the fire popped like the rapport of a gun and she startled, suddenly aware of her companion's close proximity. He was seated on the ground on her right side; knees up with his hands planted between his feet, looking every bit the dog whose blood he shared. Leaning forward, he sniffed at her with flaring nostrils. Kagome fixed him with a hard stare, and even though she'd obviously caught him checking her out, he made no move to stop or apologize.

"Inuyasha, knock it off," she did her best to growl at him.

"Keh. Bathing, my ass."

Color shot into her cheeks before she could help it, for he was correct, in a way, and she was a lousy liar. For a moment, she considered telling him, getting it out in the open so that she wouldn't have to sneak around. However, her gut told her to keep quiet, so she did. "Excuse me? And what else would I be doing?" Besides being fucked by a demon lord, that is.

He inhaled sharply, nose in the air as if to catch each nuance of her scent. "You tell me, wench. What _were_ you doing?"

"Bathing, idiot!"

"You smell damn strange for someone who just took a bath."

"Osuwari!" Kagome let him have it, effectively ending the conversation. Stomping over to her backpack, she pulled out her math book and crawled into her sleeping bag, removing the warming stones from the bottom. Pointedly ignoring the hanyou who was sputtering in the dirt, she angled the text to the fire and pretended to read. Here he was all riled up about something he couldn't even name but did he ask about the scabby injuries that marred her chest? No! The jerk was insufferable; to think that she had kinda-sorta thought he was cute! Well, the way his ears twitched on the top of his head was pretty cute. 'I wonder if they would tickle my thighs if he…'

'Oh! So don't go there, Kagome!' she grimaced and decided to try to read the book, if just to stymie her now hentai imagination. Nothing was more of a turn-off than quadratic equations.

A quiet rustle, then an indignant grunt, and Kagome sighed in relative relief, glad that the hanyou had finally decided to roost in the treetops. Whoever heard of a dog climbing trees, but they were his favorite places to sleep, high in the branches with his precious sword leaning against his shoulder. Kagome could care less where he slept as long as he quit nosing (pun intended) around her business.

XxxxxxxxX

"Inuyasha, we have to help these poor people," Kagome cocked her hands on her hips and gave the intractable hanyou a death glare. Why did he have to make everything so difficult?

"You mean _I_ have to help them, and I ain't gonna." Normally stubborn, today he was downright obstinate and she had to wonder if he were mule hanyou instead of inuhanyou. It had been almost a week since her cave adventure and he hadn't treated her the same since. The modicum of regard he'd seemed to gain for her after the thing with Yura of the Demon Hair had evaporated like water in a hot frying pan and his gruff manner had devolved into downright rudeness.

Kagome had been in better moods herself; it had also been a week since she'd had a rendezvous with her lover and she was beginning to suspect that he was done with her, a fact that upset her more than she thought it should. After all, it was just a little fling, right? Like a one-night stand! He'd made no promises to her. However, she couldn't help search the shadows for a glimmer of silver, the only visual clue she had of him, or strain her ears for the velvet timbre of his voice.

She was uncomfortably reminded of the month her friend Yuka spent sitting by the telephone waiting for her would-be boyfriend to call, blanching whenever it would ring and plummeting into the depths of despair when it wasn't him, spending sleepless nights in an adolescent bliss when it was. She'd put her life on hold for that guy, defending his careless misuse of her feeling to her friends with a vehemence that Kagome hadn't begun to understand, until one day Yuka simply lost interest, her attention cast to the fickle wind of youth and snagged by a handsome older boy with a car.

In the meantime, Inuyasha had almost been clingy, though hotly denying it when Kagome brought it up, and had hardly let her out of his sight. She was positive that he'd been lurking around when she bathed. He denied that, too, but his gaudy red outfit was awfully difficult to hide in the green-leafed branches that ringed the springs she used. It had only been flashes out of the corners of her eyes, but she swore she saw him more than once.

"But that demon is burning their fields! They'll starve this winter if we don't do something."

"It ain't got a jewel shard so it ain't our business."

"Please?"

"Fuck no."

Kagome gave him a calculating stare, wondering if sitting him would do more harm than good. It often took a little cajoling on her part to get him to help people, but he'd always caved in eventually due to his kind heart, or so she thought. Today, he just wouldn't back down.

"Then I'll just have to go myself."

"Stupid girl, like you could do anything, you're so pathetic."

"Osuwari!" He hit the ground in a tangle of limbs, cursing and raging into the ground. Kagome scowled at him; only a moron wouldn't have seen that coming. Spinning on her heel, she stomped toward the pillar of brown smoke that marred the otherwise perfectly cloudless blue sky. "I'll show you what I can do!"

"Not with the jewel shards, you won't! Hey, get back here! Wench!"

Kagome left him hollering in the dirt, her arms stiff at her sides and her hands clenched into righteous little balls as she stomped toward the burning rice patties. Insufferable, loud-mouthed, arrogant, snotty, flea-brained…

Her mental tirade died away the closer she got. Villagers were scurrying frantically with overflowing buckets to put out the flames. Several had made a dousing chain, standing one beside the other from the fire to the well, tossing full and empty buckets between them to put out the largest of the blazes. No matter how many small fires they extinguished, another would take its place. As she watched, a brick red lizard-looking thing slithered away from the newest fire on stubby legs, the tip of its tail still smoldering. She felt pity for the poor thing caught in the blaze and rushed forward to help it when its skin temporarily caught fire, igniting a part of the rice patty that had so far escaped the fires.

Frowning and pulling an arrow out of her quiver, she stood with legs apart as she nocked the arrow to her bow. She was a lousy shot, sure, but she had something to prove. With a silent prayer for accuracy, she released the arrow, thrilled by the pink corona of light around its tip. The arrow embedded itself in the ground a couple feet from the salamander, which turned to look at her with angry red eyes.

"Great, Kagome. Now it knows you're here." She nocked another arrow quickly, tongue stuck between her lips as she aimed. 'At least I have a better shot, now,' she thought nervously, for the salamander was trundling in her direction. She let the arrow fly and the youkai had to twist out of the way to avoid being hit, and Kagome did a small mental happy-dance that she'd gotten so close before pulling out another arrow.

'How did it move so fast?' Kagome wondered, for the thing was now almost upon her, smoke rising off of its skin in puffy white clouds. Brave or stupid, the girl from the future held her ground, arrow clutched in her hand and poised to strike like a knife instead of projectile. Just before it leapt at her, it burst into flames, and Kagome had a moment where she wished she had stayed with Inuyasha and let the villagers deal with this themselves. Then, her arm was swinging around, slamming the purifying arrow into the salamander's body where the point sunk into burning flesh.

Screaming in pain, she was only half aware of the youkai being enveloped in pink light, then exploding into a fine, iridescent dust. Clutching her scorched hand to her chest, she fell onto her rump, tears streaming down her face. "Owowowowowow!"

"She killed it! She killed the salamander youkai!"

"That girl did!"

"She must be a priestess!"

Several of the villagers rushed to surround her, a matronly woman helping her to her feet with a hand on her uninjured arm. The men finished dousing the flames, an easy task now that no more fires were being started, and joined the circle of gawkers. For her part, Kagome didn't care what they called her, as long as they got her something for her hand, which hurt more than anything she'd experienced in a long time. The skin was red, swollen, and blistering profusely, several blisters dark in color.

"Get the healer," the old mother snapped at the onlookers, pushing through the rapidly growing crowd of people with a meaty, calloused hand. A young boy did just that, wheeling around and printing toward the cluster of huts that was their village. He returned minutes later, meeting the group that was slowly making its own way to the village with another old woman in tow.

Clucking to herself like an enormous overstuffed hen, the portly woman shoed away the villagers and took Kagome under her wing, leading her to the hut where she practiced her craft.

XxxxxxxxX

'This isn't so bad,' Kagome thought with a pained smile as she laid on a comfortable futon and stared at the shadowed roof over her head. The headman of the village had insisted that she and her friend (though they all had given Inuyasha dirty, distrustful looks) stay in his house that night and dine with his family. Dinner had been delicious and even though it hurt to wield her chopsticks, she had enjoyed every bite. Even Inuyasha had seemed somewhat pleased, despite the fact that he'd fought tooth and nail against staying there. Kagome hadn't given him a choice, and when she'd shown him her burned hand, he'd gracelessly capitulated. She thanked the heavens that they'd been given separate sleeping chambers; she was in no mood for his incessant grumbling.

She could do without the flowers, incense, and other little things that the villagers were leaving outside her door, however. 'What do they think I'm going to do with all that stuff?' It just seemed wasteful. A quiet creak outside the sliding door signaled to the injured girl that another misguided soul was here to pay homage. Groaning silently, Kagome closed her eyes and rolled onto her side, adjusting her hand so that it touched as little as possible. Damn, but those burns hurt. Even liberally spread with an herbal salve and bandaged, they throbbed and ached, and each inadvertent bump sent lances of pain through her arm and into her shoulders. Maybe she should've taken that sleeping draught the healer had offered after all.

Just about to crawl back out of bed to visit the old woman and ask for the potion, Kagome froze when she heard the hushed rattle of the door to her room being slid back. She shot to a sitting position, holding the blanket to her chest in an instinctively protective gesture. Eyes straining to pierce the darkness of her room, she saw a dim silhouette in her doorway: tall, statuesque, backlit by a sliver of pale, milky moon and almost shimmering before it vanished when the door was slid shut. Hardly more of a glimpse than when they had left the cave together, it still told her, without a doubt, who her visitor was.

"My lord!" With a strangled gasp and a sudden levity in her heart, she closed her eyes, letting the blanket and her hands fall into her lap, barely noticing when her injured hand protested the movement with a jolt of pain. She had it bad, that malady that sent the heart racing into overdrive, heady anticipation flooding her body and splashing into her belly, surging with heat and tension. She should have been alarmed at the power he had over her, power that she had freely given, but she didn't…she just…_wanted_.

"Good girl," he whispered, his breath caressing the curve of her ear. The smooth pads of his fingers glided down her bare arm, a quiet hiss of displeasure escaping his lips as he fingered the bandaging on her hand. Kagome whimpered quietly, rubbing her cheek to his and then turning her head to press his lips with a needy kiss. His tongue dipped into her mouth, tasting her with a thoroughness that left her gasping for each tremulous breath before pulling away.

Lips traced the pulse in her throat, parting slightly to allow the gentlest of nibbles. Kagome thought she would dissolve on the spot; already her panties had become uncomfortably wet and she shifted slightly to relieve the ache that had bloomed between her thighs. Moaning softly and baring the side of her neck as she leaned against his shoulder, she slid her uninjured fingers into the hair at the base of his neck, gently scoring his scalp with blunt nails. He shivered against her back, the clawed hand creeping under the hem of her sleeping shirt spasming slightly on the skin over her ribcage, and then continuing its quest to her left breast where it tugged on a hardening nipple. Fangs scraped against the arch of her throat, mimicking bites in rhythm with the tweaks of her nipple.

Letting the silky cascade of his hair flow through her fingers, she arched her back and writhed, trying to feel the hardness that she knew waited for her, to convey her desperate need for him to fill her, to meld with her, to push her into to the upper stratosphere of carnal pleasure. He obliged her by pulling her to her knees and grinding his groin against her flannel-clad bottom, the length of him sliding between her cheeks. Instinctively, she bent over, putting her weight on her elbows and tilting her hips, presenting herself for his prodding and singing a silent song in her mind, 'Please, please, please…'

A distant wooden racket and a hoarse shout broke through the fog of sensuality, the shaft pressed against her folds freezing as her heart jumped into her throat. A flash of light and he was gone, zipping out the high, empty window like an overgrown firefly just as her door slid open with a protesting rattle.

"The fuck is going on in here!"

"OSUWARI!" Kagome shouted back, scrambling under her covers and pulling them to her chin. The hanyou hit the floorboards with a resonating crack and Kagome winced; it had to have hurt.

"Bitch!"

"Osuwari!" Kagome snapped back, her momentary guilt smothered by Inuyasha's foul mouth. "How dare you barge in here?" Glaring at the crumpled pile of silver hair and red fabric lit by the feeble light of the moon, her panicked mind whirred frantically to figure out what he might have seen and how she could explain it.

Cursing unintelligibly from the floor, Inuyasha finally managed to growl out a sentence. "Who was in here?"

Deny, deny, deny… "No one!" she shot back, putting as much outrage and innocence into her voice as she possibly could.

"Bullshit! I smell…fuck!" the hanyou was again reduced to growling and cursing.

'What does he smell?' she wondered with cold dread, her heart slamming in her chest so hard that she was afraid it may break through the back of her ribcage. She didn't think he'd smelled the other demon before; otherwise he wouldn't have accepted her previous denials so easily. He would have tracked down the other demon using his doggy nose. She figured he could smell the stuff her lord left behind or her own body's juices. Her biology book said that animals gave off pheromones to attract others to mate; could he smell that too?

Pulling himself off the floor, he sniffed at her, at the doorframe, around the perimeter of the room, all the while grumbling under his breath. From his lack of shouting and hurling accusations, Kagome decided that for some reason, he couldn't smell her lover, which just left her and her pheromones. She would have to remember to ask him how he did it.

Sighing as he circled her, snuffling loudly and suspiciously but not too closely to her body, she fought back her own mortification and gave him a tired frown. "Well, Inuyasha? What do you smell?"

He refused to look at her, crossing his arms over his chest and glaring, seemingly unknowingly, out the window her demon lover had used to escape.

"Then could you please _leave_ so I can get some sleep?"

His head snapped around, his gleaming predator's eyes boring into her like hot pokers, trying to torture the truth out of her with a look alone. Kagome wasn't falling for it. Finally he huffed, breaking the silence. "You smell like…"

Was it her imagination, or was the obnoxious hanyou embarrassed? Now she was positive that he could smell her pheromones, or arousal, and couldn't even put it into words. Perhaps he didn't even know what men's…stuff…smelled like. Did hanyou and youkai pleasure themselves? She'd seen dogs licking their things but never to the point of…ew. But that would make him a virgin, and a shy one at that. It would be funny in a different situation. Feeling empowered and a little less anxious, Kagome gave him a questioning look, pouring virtue and empathy into her limpid brown eyes.

"Like what, Inuyasha?" That's it girl, lay on the charm. It was working, too; his rigid stance relaxed a little as he took a couple of shuffling steps toward her, his nose twitching as he strove to take in the intoxicating scent of sexual chemicals.

"Like…like… Keh! Whatever!" he seemed to realize with a start what he was doing and backed off, dropping to a cross-legged sitting position when his back hit the wall. "Stupid girl." Adjusting his sword to lean against his shoulder with the point near his crossed ankles and the hilt touching the wall behind him, he glowered out the small window. "Then why were you making so much damn noise?"

'Noise?' she repeated silently to herself. He had heard her moaning? Oh kami, that's almost worse than him smelling her! Her cheeks heating despite her internal struggle to remain cool, she flopped down on the futon and rolled with her back facing him. Then, an idea struck her: fiercely embarrassing, she would never have considered it before her awakening to sex and subterfuge. Clearing her throat of the dryness that had settled there, she swallowed noisily.

"I was dreaming," she mumbled quietly, hoping he would buy her little ploy and go away. It was too perfect, really, if he couldn't smell the other demon and didn't know what cum was. His reaction to her pheromones was probably pure instinct. She heard a snort and a rustle, smirking to herself as she realized that her statement could be even more embarrassing to the hanyou than to herself.

Still, he stayed where he was, much to her dismay. Fighting it would only bring more suspicion, so she closed her eyes and silently fumed on her futon, body twitching in the throes of withdrawal, mind screaming at the loss of fulfillment. She felt like a drug addict denied a fix, a metaphor that should have alarmed her as much as her rampant desire for her lover and his power to incite her body, but so close to the problem, all she could lament was the unslaked burning in her abdomen.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: A big THANK YOU to thymecat, who beta'd this fic. Her help has been invaluable! And also to dsm1980, whose brilliant suggestion has given this fic its direction! Which direction, you might ask? I'll tell in you in the author's note at the end of the very last chapter. Maybe you will have guessed it by then, maybe not.

And thanks to my reviewers on FFnet who I couldn't answer directly.

Chapter 2 

Kagome heaved a heart-felt sigh and stared moodily at the dark clouds looming on the horizon, blotting out the sinking sun with an ominous finality. A thick and surly gray, they roiled through the sky toward her, trailing misty tendrils to the tops of the trees like giant jellyfish floating over a bed of kelp.

'Rain,' Kagome thought despondently as she shifted to make herself more comfortable. 'And here I am, stuck in this stupid tree.' A clingy, emotionally unstable hanyou had left her high in the boughs of an ancient tree, telling her to stay put until he returned with something to eat. As if she could go anywhere: the closest branch below her was an uncomfortable drop, and the ground was sure, agonizing death unless she was lucky enough to break her neck on impact, which she seriously doubted. No, with her luck, she would shatter both legs and die of exposure or be eaten by wolves or something equally gruesome and painful.

Why he felt the need to put her in a tree was beyond her, and his insistence to hunt for their meal, instead of making Ramen, was downright befuddling. He certainly hadn't had a problem leaving her alone and unprotected before. Kagome huffed irritably, her patience running short on dog hanyou who went through more moods than she changed outfits before a trip to the mall.

She supposed she should be grateful that he'd stopped being so damn rude, but this new, smotheringly possessive side of him was almost worse, in a way. Oh, he was as gruff and rough on the edges as ever, but he'd suddenly made it his mission in life to meet her needs, whether or not they needed meeting. This wasn't the first time he'd disappeared to hunt, nor the first time she'd watched the clouds from a perch in the treetops. No longer content to leave her alone on the ground, he wanted her 'safe' while he was away.

She'd put her foot down when he'd tried to drag her into the trees to sleep, though. The first night after they had left the village, he'd asserted that it was the only way he could protect her and had dragged her into the lower branches of nearby tree, only to find himself planted in the dirt face-first with an angry girl straddling his back. Thinking back to that night and the ensuing argument, Kagome shuddered to think what could've happened if she sat him from a higher branch. In the end, she'd gotten her way about the sleeping arrangements and slept in her sleeping bag on the ground, except for the fact that he now slept sitting next to her against the base of the tree. Within easy reaching distance. Ugh.

The whole 'protection' thing was out of control. If she'd suspected him tailing her to her baths before, now she was certain because he sat in a tree or on the bank, in plain view, with his back turned to her. No amount of pleading, cajoling, threatening, or sitting would get him to leave. Her wonderful baths had become exercises in efficiency and more than once, she dreamed of her steamy shower five hundred years in the future with its solid door and lock. Even her potty breaks were somewhat monitored, though a few shed tears had convinced him to stay out of sight. At least if she couldn't see him, she could pretend that he couldn't hear (or smell) her peeing. The only time he would truly leave her was on his hunting forays, and then he would ensconce her high in the forest canopy.

The food issue was just as perplexing. Not that she minded having fresh meat, but there was no way on god's green earth that she would clean the carcasses he brought back. His first kill had been presented to her with a triumphant grin and a flourish of dead rabbits, limp and still warm, which he placed in her lap. Kagome had almost fallen out of the tree in her hasty retreat from his 'present', but he'd scooped her out of the air, rabbits and all, and brought them safely back to the ground.

Looking hurt and put out, he'd groused at her, pointing a finger at the unfortunate bunnies, "What the fuck is wrong with them?"

"They…they've still got their eyes!" she finally exclaimed, shuddering a little as the glassy gaze of the rabbits seemed to fix on her. Fish eyes were one thing: cooked, they didn't look like eyes so much as cloudy marbles. But freshly killed bunny rabbit eyes…

"You want I should clean 'em?" came Inuyasha's slightly perturbed question, as if he'd been expecting her to do it.

"If you want me to eat them, then yes!" she'd snapped, feeling ungrateful and slightly queasy.

"Feh, stupid girl," he'd griped, but had them efficiently skinned, gutted and beheaded, all with his claws, in a matter of minutes, much to Kagome's dismay and stomach upheaval. If she hadn't been so hungry, and if the rabbits hadn't smelled so good as they roasted on spits over her cooking fire, she would never have been able to choke them down. That had been three days ago, and now everything he brought back was dead _and_ cleaned, which was all fine and dandy, except for the reason he was doing it in the first place. He wouldn't answer that question, except to say that she was too scrawny. It was almost as if he were trying to prove something, but what?

And if she were being completely honest with herself, she would admit that she would have liked the attention if it came from another source. However, Inuyasha's constant vigil over her prevented any kind of romantic encounter with her lover; his hunting expeditions took no more than twenty minutes. The ache her lord had left in the wake of his hasty departure had yet to subside and her lie to the hanyou had become a frustrating truth. Deep in her sleeping mind, her lover stroked her, nipped her, kissed her, licked her until she woke in a sweat, tense, frustrated, and unsatisfied.

A fat drop of water landed on her hand with a splash and Kagome jerked out of her thoughts. Glancing up at the sky in consternation, she realized that the rain clouds were now almost directly overhead. Great. Just great. She was about to weather a storm while sitting in a tree with minimal overhead coverage. Pursing her lips and glaring at the offending atmospheric conditions, she shrugged out of her cardigan and tented it over her head just as more rain splattered down.

Within moments, it was pouring, the tattoo of water on leaves crescendoing to a dull roar. Her sweater-umbrella did little to help, the sodden fabric weighing heavily against her arms and springing several small leaks that dripped onto her dark hair. The rest of her was drenched, her skirt clinging to wet thighs, shoes filling with water, the front of her blouse plastered to her breasts. Cold and shivering, Kagome tried to draw her knees against her chest to conserve body heat without compromising her precarious seat on the branch. Where was her lover when she needed him?

"Inuyasha!" she shouted into the downpour, hoping that the hanyou hadn't strayed to far. "Inuyasha, get me down! Now!" She emphasized her demand with a small stamp of her foot against the bough.

"INUYASHA!"

"Alright already!" the hanyou's voice came from behind her, almost drowned out by a rumble of thunder. With one arm behind her back and the other under her knees, he whisked her out of the tree, upsetting her meager covering and allowing her head to join the rest of her body in its wetness.

"How could you leave me in a tree when a storm was coming?" she asked plaintively, struggling to keep hold of her sodden sweater but not let it touch her already clammy skin.

"What's your problem? It's only rain!" he snapped back, but she didn't like the way his fingers were curling over her bare thigh. She recognized wandering claws and his were rapidly approaching that point.

"Only rain? I'm cold and wet and I could get sick!" His fingers tensed again, the tips of his claws digging into her skin. 'At least his fingers aren't traveling north,' she thought with small comfort. He grumbled something in reply, the only audible word being 'pathetic', and even then she couldn't be sure, so she decided to let it drop. He seemed to be doing something about it anyway, zipping through the lower branches so fast that the forest had become a soggy, gray-green blur.

Minutes later, he bounded out of the trees and in front of a small, inconspicuous hut with a tattered roof and no mat over the door. On closer inspection, as Kagome approached with a hesitant 'hello?', the hut was deserted and hadn't seen use for quite a while. The small fire pit in the center of the floor had a few pieces of charred wood but the floor was coated with a thick layer of dust and a steady dribble of water trickled from the ceiling and down a wall to puddle on the floorboards. A small pile of wood sat in a corner of the hut, also dusty but promisingly dry. A rest stop for travelers, Kagome decided as she dumped her bag on the floor and stretched the kinks out of her back and legs, her mood improving rapidly now that she was out of the weather.

"Hey, Inuyasha, I don't suppose you caught anything for dinner?" she turned to him, reaching as far over her head as she could, lengthening her spine and exposing a damp stretch of tummy to the musty air of the hut. He didn't answer; instead, his gaze was locked on her midriff and slowly wandering up her body. Exhaling in a rush and dropping her arms, she glanced down to see what he found so interesting.

'He's staring at my tits and they're staring back!' she thought with a little gasp, for she'd failed to remember the effect cold would have on her nipples. Sure enough, they stood at attention, poking through the lace bra and wet, clinging, now translucent blouse like bullets. Flushing hotly, Kagome crossed her arms over her chest, wincing at the chill of her shirt, and spun around.

"Pervert!" she snapped, dropping to her knees to rummage through her bag for something dry and less revealing. The oversized tee shirt would have to do; though damp, it was better than what she was wearing. Holding the shirt to cover her front, she turned back to the hanyou, almost falling over to see him standing right behind her, gazing down at her with intense, overly-bright eyes.

Kagome smothered her first instinct to cower under his predatory glare. Sometimes she forgot he was half-demon and could kill her as easily as she could swat a fly: easier, maybe. "Inuyasha," she croaked through a throat suddenly gone dry. "Turn around so I can change."

He stood stone still for several seconds, the only movements betraying him were the rise of his chest as he breathed heavily and the sporadic clenching of his claws. "What's wrong with you?" Kagome couldn't help but to scuttle backward on the floor, her hands and feet helping her bottom scoot her away from him. "Turn around or I'll say it!"

He jerked as if someone had suddenly cut strings that had been controlling his body, blinking rapidly at her glowering form huddled on the ground. "Keh. You better not, wench!" Stomping over to the pile of wood, he gathered several pieces in his arms, his broad red back facing her. "Hurry it up already."

Kagome scrambled out of her wet clothes and into dry ones, her eyes fixed on his back and ready to subdue him if he so much as twitched wrong while she was changing. It was too much: all the things that had happened to her over the past week or so, and now Inuyasha was behaving even more strangely than normal. Her nerves were beginning to fray and despite her duty to collect the jewel shards, she desperately needed a break. Giving him quiet permission to turn, she grabbed her lighter and approached to help him start a fire, wracking her mind for a good excuse to go home. 'You and my lover are stressing me out,' was not something she could tell him.

They were silent as they built the fire, avoiding eye contact as they coaxed the kindling to a merry blaze and added large pieces of wood. She'd set her cooking pot outside to collect water and now she brought it in to boil, since Inuyasha had not caught anything for dinner. That was fine with her; she didn't want to feel indebted to him with the way he was looking at her earlier.

It wasn't until they were slurping up the dregs of their ramen that she'd screwed up enough courage to broach the subject of going home, an already sore topic she knew from past experience.

"Inuyasha…"

He grunted noncommittally and tossed his empty container into a corner of the room. Kagome followed it with her eyes, knowing she would have to retrieve it and irritated that he hadn't just handed it to her. "I was thinking…"

"Spit it out."

Frowning, Kagome set her empty container on the floor in front of her. "I want to go home for a couple of days."

"No way."

"Inuyasha-"

"You said you didn't have any of those 'test' thingies for another half a moon cycle."

"Please, Inuyasha? Just a couple of days?" she gave him her best doe eyes and battered her lashes.

He looked slightly unnerved and she almost thought she had him until he crossed his arms over his chest. "No." Maybe she shouldn't have changed out of that wet blouse.

"Yeah, but most of my clothes are ruined and…and I need stuff!"

"No fucking way. You've got plenty of stuff!" he gestured to the backpack and its strained seams.

"No, I mean _female_ stuff." It always worked at school: a mysterious ailment that involved 'female' or 'feminine' could get her out of just about anything with a male teacher.

"What kind of female stuff?" he asked suspiciously.

Kagome could not believe he was being so dense. Was it a negotiation tactic to feign ignorance so that the embarrassment that one's opponent was trying to instill in one was flung back? Well, that wasn't her only weapon and she really didn't have to work hard to use it. Hanging her head to let her bangs cover her eyes, she sniffled.

"What are you doing?" he asked, his voice nervous and uneven.

A film of tears covered her eyes and she squeezed the lids together, forcing the drops to roll down her cheeks. 'Shame on you, Kagome,' she scolded herself, guilt curling in her stomach.

"Are you crying?" he reared back, panic evident in the lines of his body. "Don't cry!"

She sniffled again, letting her frustrations rise to the surface and push out more moisture.

"Fine!" the hanyou waved his hands in a warding-off gesture as his resistance crumbled. "If you want to go home that bad, I'll take you! Just don't cry!" Kagome allowed herself a mental happy dance before glancing up, hoping that the 'I'll take you' part didn't mean that he'd come with her to the future, but deciding to let it slide for now. Choose your battles, after all…

"Oh, thank you Inuyasha!" she clasped her hands in front of her and bestowed him with a glowing smile. She still felt like a heel for making herself cry, but if he weren't so difficult, than she would never have done it. It was all his fault.

Inuyasha blushed and tucked his hands into his sleeves. "Keh. Two days."

XxxxxxxxxX

Kagome snapped out of another erotic dream to the sweltering heat of her sleeping bag, her entire abdomen pulsing uncomfortably with a now familiar yearning as she lay on her side facing the fire. Turning away from the flames, she squeaked at the sight of Inuyasha's eyes burning down on her, his lips drawn up in a strange snarl. In an instant, he was straddling her hips, hands pressing her shoulders into the floor, face buried in her hair as he inhaled. Kagome froze, her heart pounding wildly, pretty sure what it was he smelled.

"Inuyasha," she whispered hesitantly, not wanting to encourage him but needing to take control of the situation. He growled lowly, gliding his nose over her neck and igniting the burn in her belly in spite of herself. Pushing against his chest with her hands, she tried to suppress a shiver as his tongue laved the skin over her thrumming pulse.

He lowered his body, pushing her hands down as if they exerted no pressure, until the fronts of their bodies were flush with one another. Kagome began to squirm as his nose traveled lower to the collar of her shirt, nudging aside the fabric as he nibbled at her collarbone. Her movement only seemed to goad him on, as one of his hands abandoned her shoulder to run down her side, fumbling for a breast that was pressed between them. Kicking frantically until his legs stretched out to trap them against the floor, Kagome tried ineffectually to throw him off. He wouldn't budge; instead peeling the sleeping bag down between their bodies with the hand that wasn't massaging a breast.

"Kikyou," he muttered against her chest, pressing a hard length against her belly.

"Hey!" Kagome shouted, the last of the arousal from her dream dissolving with that name. "I'm not Kikyou!" His hands paused in their quests and his face lifted from her chest, glazed golden tinged with red and swirling with confusion. "Get off me!"

He complied to her request with an alacrity that left her stunned, and by the goggle-eyed look on his handsome face, him as well. Hitting the wall with a crash that shook the rickety frame of the hut, he shook his head as if coming out of a deep sleep. Kagome thought it must have hurt but couldn't sympathize, for the reason of his hasty departure was now choking the hut with an immense, wrathful aura, towering over the both of them in soggy white silk.

Red eyes blazed down on her, framed by waterlogged, silver-white hair and a crescent moon emblazoned on a noble brow. He held her immobile with his gaze for a full minute before briskly shaking his head, tossing the water out of his thick mane and onto everything else in the hut. Hunkering down in her sleeping bag and wracking her brain for something to use as a weapon, she met his gaze and tried to calm the wild palpitating of her heart. He was just so _beautiful_ this close up!

"Don't come any closer!" she squeaked out, thrusting a hand in front of her as she scooted backward, feeling for her bow and arrow with the other. Kagome knew her situation had gone from bad to much, much worse. This youkai, though related to Inuyasha by blood, was cruel, vicious and despised human frailty. The last time she had seen him, he'd tried to melt her with poison and would have succeed if not for the sword that Inuyasha was now drawing from its scabbard.

"Sesshomaru! Get away from Kagome!"

The demon's eyes slid away from her, but not before she saw a strange flicker in their crimson depths. It was so brief and intangible that she would have chalked it up to her adrenaline-wired imagination had she not been studying the demon so intently. She couldn't define it, was too scared to try, but she had seen it nonetheless.

Lip curled in the slightest of sneers, he advanced on his half-brother, easily dodging a clumsy swing of Tetsusaiga and raising the hanyou off of his feet by a handful of his firerat robes. With a swirl of starlight and moonbeams, the males were gone, leaving Kagome alone in the hut and wondering what had just happened.

He'd left her alone, hadn't even attempted to hurt her before taking off with his brother. To the casual observer, it may have appeared that he'd saved her from an uncertain ravishing, but Kagome knew better. He'd come for the Tetsusaiga and her rescue was an unintentional, and probably unpleasant, side effect. Metallic crashing and shouted curses overrode the steady patter of rain and Kagome shook herself into action. Grabbing her bow and quiver of arrows, she made a mad dash for the entrance of the hut, ready to defend the hanyou from the poison claws of his youkai brother.

Stepping out into the rainy night, she futilely scanned the road and forest for a sign of the brothers. In the short time it had taken her to get outside, they had disappeared and not even the sounds of the battle could reach her.

"Inuyasha!" she called, clutching her bow to her chest. He may have been overly frisky with her but no one deserved to be melted into a puddle of effluence.

"Inuyashaaaaa!" Besides, he probably smelled the effects the dream was having on her and his instincts got carried away.

"INUYASHA!" Though why would he say the name of that dead priestess who sealed him to the God Tree? And in passion, no less, while he was kissing her, Kagome!

"Humph!" Kagome frowned and stomped back into the hut, once again soaked on account of that stupid Inuyasha. Throwing her bow and arrows onto the floor, she clambered back into her sleeping bag in an indignant snit, disliking the way her wet hair stuck to the back of her shirt but too irritated to do anything about it.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Smut Alert (edited and marked with a XXX)! For the unedited version, go to my profile and follow the links. My eternal gratitude to thymecat for betaing this fic and also to those of you who messaged me with suggestions. I think I forgot to mention that in the notes of the last story, and for that I apologize. And, last but not least, thank you to dsm1980 for the jump-start to my muse!

Thank you to all of you who reviewed!

Disclaimer: I do not own any character created by Rumiko Takahashi.

Chapter 3

Kagome was rudely forced awake for the second time that night, but instead of by heat, it was by a chill that seeped into her bones and settled in the marrow. Shivering and wishing that she'd dried her hair before going back to bed, she curled deeper in her sleeping bag and peered into the darkness, wondering why something felt so wrong. Several groggy moments later, she realized that her fire had gone completely out, accounting for part of the cold that was numbing her body. The other part made itself know with a glacial rumble.

"You let him touch you."

Gasping, Kagome sat up and glanced frantically around in the inky blackness. Of course there was nothing to see: storm clouds blocked what little light of the moon there would've been and even the embers of her fire were cool and dark. "No!" she squeaked in the direction she thought he was.

Another low growl raised the hairs on the back of her neck. "You reek of musk and the half-breed."

Finally finding her voice in the face of his accusation, Kagome hissed back, "He jumped me while I was sleeping and dreaming of _you_!"

The air seemed to lighten, the chill leaching slowly out of the hut in the silence that followed. Not liking silence of any kind, Kagome sought to fill it. "I didn't _let_ him do anything and nothing happened. His brother..."

"_Half_-brother," the voice was not quite as frosty as before, but was still a far cry from the sensual timbre she was used to.

"What?" her train of thought was derailed, hijacked, and robbed by that simple comment and she stared blankly in the darkness, wondering what on earth she had been about to say and why her lover knew or cared about the degree of fraternity shared by the two males.

Something scuffed in the darkness and a puff of warm air hit her neck. "You mentioned that they were half-brothers."

Oh. In the cave. Right. "Yeah, but…" she murmured as the warm pads of his fingers tangled in the hair at the nape of her neck, holding her head still as a wet tongue slid into the ridges of her ear, sending the partially formed question skittering into the dusty, cobwebbed corner of her mind. Reaching out, her fingers met cold metal, still slick with water, and she growled softly in frustration. Her lover snorted, an amused sound that dispelled the last vestiges of chill in the hut.

Clawed fingers wrapped around her own, guiding her hand to the leather straps that held the metal in place and with more than a little fumbling on her part, she managed to get him out of the flesh-numbing stuff to feel the damp fabric underneath. Tugging apart the material until she found bare skin, she rubbed her cheek against the hard planes of his chest. She'd wanted this so badly; she felt heavy and open and was shaking with anticipation of him filling her.

"What?" she asked breathlessly, his question not having penetrated the fog that gripped her brain. 'The ties to his hakama. Finally!'

"His half-brother, what did he do?" he nipped her ear as he whispered.

"He…" It was just so damn hard to think, but Kagome did her best because she was the eager-to-please kind of girl, spitting out a hasty summary so that they could move on to more important things. "…pulled him off me and disappeared with him."

Trailing tingling kisses down her neck, he paused at the junction of her throat and shoulder, biting lightly. "You are not concerned he will return?"

"What?" she gasped, her head lolling to the side as tremors rolled through her belly. He? Which he did he mean? She reached her goal and ignored the question, wrapping her hand around the thick, turgid length between his thighs. Squeezing with all her paltry human strength, she let him know what she thought of the current conversation. He groaned, a deep rumble that quickened her heart's beating.

His claws were on her hip, tugging at the elastic band of her panties, and she wiggled as she rose to a kneeling position, climbing out of the garment and into his lap. Wrapping an arm around her back, he guided her up and over him, his mushroomed tip prodding her entrance, but didn't give her the satisfaction of sheathing his sword. She pulled off her shirt, baring her flushed skin and moaning as his silky lips brushed against the sensitive peaks of her breasts. Whimpering quietly as he teased her folds and tongued a nipple, she buried her fingers in his hair, peppering kisses across his smooth brow and wondering at the softness of his skin beneath her lips.

He rolled his hips, just enough to ease his head into her body and then stopped, leaving her shuddering and yearning for more. Groaning, she tried to lower herself but his arm held her like a vise.

"Human, do you not fear to couple with a demon?" His voice was a husky whisper against her breast, prickling the flesh with goose bumps that he teased down with a stroke of his tongue.

Wasn't it sort of late for those kinds of questions? Kagome let her head fall back and shook her unruly mane of hair. "No…"

"Even knowing that I hold your life in my claws?"

Wait…was that 'No, I don't fear even though you hold my life' or 'Yes, I don't fear…' Damn it! In a fit of frustrated lust, she tossed away the questions as irrelevant and made a fair approximation of a growl, tugging on his hair as if it would somehow draw him into her oh-so-ready body. The being beneath her snorted, a short sound that could almost be taken as a laugh. 'Why is he so talkative tonight, anyway?'

"A bit eager, aren't you?" he asked, his tongue twirling around the bud of her nipple…

XXX (graphic content edited)

Pulsing within her and panting against her chest, he chuckled quietly. "You bit me."

Nibbling at the tiny cuts she'd made, she wiggled her hips, satisfied by his sharp intake of breath and reflexive thrust. Viscous fluid began to seep down her inner thigh where they were joined. "So did you."

Chuckling again, he lapped at her oozing wounds as he lowered her backward against something soft, probably her sleeping bag. She felt a pang of disappointment until she felt him settle next to her, drawing her against him and nuzzling the mark on her breast. Cuddling up to him, sighing in contentment, she brushed a hand down his chest, imagining in her mind the chiseled muscles she could feel through her fingertips. They bunched and jerked under her gentle caress and a warm glow blossomed in her chest, a feeling of power and something else that she couldn't identify. Whatever it was, it was wonderful and scary at the same time and she knew that she couldn't go long without the touch of this man.

"When will I get to see you? I mean, really _see _you?" she whispered into the darkness, her hand creeping lower to grip his now flaccid penis and give it a tender squeeze. He growled lightly and it twitched in her hand, blood filling it as she playfully tugged.

"I doubt you would like what you saw," his answer was sarcastically amused and a little self-deprecating.

"Impossible," Kagome murmured as she gave it a final, fond squeeze and withdrew her hand, snuggling into the crook of his arm and blinking as drowsiness snuck into her brain and started turning off the lights. 'I should give it a name,' she thought, 'since I don't know his.'

"Do not try." Those three words hung in the air like the rumble of snow before an avalanche, promising devastation at the slightest provocation. At first, Kagome's sleep-addled mind thought he was talking about the naming of his organ, but soon recognized the warning for what it was and dropped the issue, content to rub her cheek against the satin skin of his shoulder.

"When will you come again?" she asked around a jaw-splitting yawn.

"When it is convenient for me to do so."

"Mmmm." Kagome remarked, not fooled one bit but too far gone in oblivion to call him on it.

XxxxxxxX

Kagome drew a deep breath of fresh morning air, marveling at the deep blue of the sky and cottony whiteness of the clouds that littered it. It was as if someone had taken a Brillo pad and scrubbed the earth of its impurities until each leaf and blade of grass sparkled and shone in the early morning sunshine. Everything seemed cleaner somehow, fresh, new and wonderful. Everything, that is, except for the figure trudging toward her, mud caking his red garments and silver hair.

Unfolding from her seat on the edge of the hut's stoop, she shaded her eyes and tried to determine whether or not he was hurt. He'd been gone all night; her lover had left while she slept and it was a little unnerving to wake up alone. She hadn't begun to worry about him until after breakfast, for the hanyou never missed a meal by choice. She still wasn't that worried; Inuyasha was strong and a good fighter. The last time he and his brother had fought, he had cut the guy's arm off, so he'd probably be able to hold his own. 'Besides,' she thought as a worm of guilt buried its way through her stomach, 'it's nice to have some peace and quiet, not to mention privacy.'

The guilt intensified as he stumbled a step, then continued with a slight limp. She took off at a sprint, a concerned frown knitting her eyebrows. "Inuyasha! Are you okay? What happened?"

The hanyou snorted under the deluge of questions, crossing his arms over his chest and scowling into the forest. "The bastard beat on me, then led me on a wild goose chase through the mountains. I've been chasing my own tail for hours!"

"That's…uh… that's terrible," Kagome scrunched her nose as she tried to fit the mighty Lord Sesshomaru into the role Inuyasha had just described. It simply wasn't like the youkai to play games that didn't involve death or maiming. "Why would he do that?"

"Keh. Don't know; he didn't say," Kagome rolled her eyes at the hanyou's biting sarcasm.

"Yeah, but he had to have a reason."

"A bastard don't need a reason to be a bastard."

"Why didn't he just kill you?"

Inuyasha shot her a dark look and Kagome realized with a start what that must have sounded like. "I didn't mean-"

"Keh. Forget it. He'll get his: watch me give it to him." He stalked past her, pausing to sniff at her before moving on. Kagome stepped backward and glared at him as she remembered what his brother had interrupted the night before. Apparently, he remembered too, because he blushed and refused to meet her eyes.

Scowling at his back as he stomped toward the hut, Kagome called after him. "You promised to take me home, remember? I don't want to turn the forest upside down just so that you and your brother can see who gives who what!"

"Half-brother, wench!" He spun on his heel and fixed her with furious golden eyes. "Are you saying you don't think I'll kick his ass?"

Kagome rolled her eyes and suppressed the urge to stomp her foot. "That's not the point!"

"The hell it isn't!"

"Osuwari!" she flung back, seeing that this particular conversation was heading nowhere fast. "I'm going home and there's nothing you can do to stop me!"

XxxxxxxX

'I want to go home,' Kagome wailed silently to herself as she struggled to read her biology text by the light of their reluctant campfire. Wet wood just didn't burn very well, a fact that she had pointed out when he had insisted they camp instead of press on to the well. Not even a good sitting would convince him to change his mind.

At least she wasn't alone with him anymore.

Raising her gaze over the edge of her biology text, Kagome couldn't help the softening of her eyes or the warm little smile that stole her lips. He was just so cute sitting by the fire, his fluffy red tail twitching slightly as he chewed on the fish that Inuyasha had provided for dinner. Inuyasha hadn't wanted the kit to follow them, but Kagome saw him as a godsend: a chaperone who would prevent the horny hanyou from trying anything funny.

It hadn't helped her any that she'd told those horrible Thunder Brothers that Inuyasha was her lover, though he'd adamantly denied it. What a jerk, especially after that stunt he pulled in the hut.

'He won't try anything with Shippo around,' she thought as she turned back to her biology book. 'In fact…' she arched a speculative eyebrow as the little fox child caught her attention once again, 'I bet I could get him to run interference for me. It's not like he has any great fondness for Inuyasha with the way he's been bullying him.'

At least the hanyou's mood had lightened; the shards they'd collected from the Brothers had pleased him immensely, finally overriding his acute embarrassment over his little scene when he thought she had died. She'd seen a different side of him in that moment that he'd grabbed her wrist as she stood in the protective foxfire. His eyes had become sharp with fear and loneliness, desperation and regret marring the overconfident lines of his body. Once he'd realized that she was not dead, he regressed back to his usual Insufferable Jerkiness, but she had seen his moment of vulnerability and would always wonder what he had been about to say.

A log in the fire popped like the report of a gun, startling her out of her musings and sending her heart to tap-dancing school. Once it had slowed to a more sedate pace, Kagome closed her book and addressed the newest member of their little group.

"Shippo? I think it's time you and I had a bath."

The kitsune dropped the slender bone with which he had been picking his teeth and gazed up at her with glittering, emerald green eyes. "Really? Is Inuyasha coming?"

"No, it'll be _just the two of us_," she sent the hanyou a speaking glare and picked up her backpack.

He must have seen something new and determined at the backs of her eyes, because he only crossed his arms and harrumphed. "Well don't come crying to me if you get yourself killed."

Kagome decided against pointing out the silliness of his comment for the sake of an easily won victory. Gesturing to Shippo to follow her, they left the camp with springs in their steps and bounce in their tails.

Yet another secluded Japanese hot spring ringed by dense foliage and rugged boulders, it released sultry steam into the moonlit air that caressed them with ethereal fingers. Sighing in pleasure as the slippery water soothed her skin and sore muscles, she watched with an uneasy smile as the kit bobbed on his back in the water.

"Shippo," she said finally, wondering how to say this.

"Yeah, Kagome?" with a quick kick of his feet, he propelled himself to where she sat.

"Shippo," she started again hesitantly. "I, um…well," she took a deep breath. "You see, I meet someone periodically…not Inuyasha…"

He raised a bushy eyebrow, somehow looking older than his slight stature should allow. "Does this have anything to do with the demon standing behind those bushes?"

She followed the line of his pointing finger, and then quickly glanced away, just in case it was her lord and he hadn't quite hidden himself. Closing her eyes, she tried to reach out with that elusive miko sense that everyone (except Inuyasha) swore she had. A faint, familiar tingle crept over her skin and she shivered despite the warmth of the water. "…um, yeah. How do you know he's there?"

"He's hiding his scent and youki but any _full _demon would know he's there. But not some half-breed." Green fox eyes caught the starlight, mischievous and calculating. "I think I can assume that Inuyasha doesn't know."

"…no."

"And that you don't want him to know."

"No!"

The kit grinned and tapped the pads of his pruning fingertips together. "So what's in it for me to keep quiet?"

"I'll bring you candy…sweet stuff from my home. Like nothing you've ever had before!" Kagome suggested hopefully, fully aware that she was bribing a child with sugar to have some alone time with her lover.

His eyes twinkled merrily though his lips settled into a puckered, suspicious pout as he swam toward the bank and pulled himself out of the water. "It better be good."

Kagome nodded vigorously, "Oh, it is!"

Shippo just shook his head and padded out of sight, throwing one last comment over his shoulder. "Two hoots of an owl means he's coming."

Kagome couldn't help the grin that cracked her face as she heard a quiet splash behind her. Closing her eyes, she leaned her head against a hard chest and breathed in the scent of wet dog.

A/N: I also wanted to thank whoever nominated "Darkness" and this fic for the SingleSpark annual awards. You guys rock!


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Lime Alert – edited and marked with a 'XXX'. This is rated M for a very good reason. The unedited (and limier) version is accessible through the links on my profile.

A big thank you to my beta, thymecat, whose careful eye catches my mistakes and keeps me in line, and all of my reviewers on FFnet, MMorg and A Single Spark. You guys are the best! In particular, shadowcat1028, who not only figured out my Master Plan (suggested by dsm1980) but whose comments inspired a couple of elements of this chapter…she'll recognize them…

Disclaimer: I do not own any character created by Rumiko Takahashi.

Chapter 4

Kagome sat on a felled tree, now only a decaying log lying across the path, and propped her chin in her hand. Frowning in thought as her eyes followed the twitching of the two furry triangles on top of Inuyasha's head, she drummed her fingers against her cheek.

'Puppy ears,' she mused, her frown softening as a shaft of sunlight pierced a white ear and lit the inside with a pink glow. 'So cute.'

There was something scratching at the back of her consciousness, like the name of a movie that was on the tip of her tongue but refused to roll off. She'd had this same feeling for over a week and every time she tried to worry it free, Inuyasha would say something to piss her off or she would have to rescue Shippo, and the feeling would be lost.

'Puppy…'

"Oof!" the air rushed out of her as Shippo hit her stomach, knocking her backward off the log and onto the ground. As she lay dazed for several seconds, Inuyasha's head, cute puppy ears and all, appeared over the top of the log.

"Clumsy! Get off yer ass, we gotta get moving."

"Osuwari."

The hanyou disappeared behind the log, much to Shippo's amusement, his curses muffled by loam and ferns.

'Damn dog!' she groused, clutching Shippo to her chest and pushing to her feet with her free arm. The spell was really only meant to protect her, but the longer she stayed in the hanyou's company, the more she used it as punishment. She'd never considered herself a cruel girl, but everyone had a threshold to the crap they could take. Inuyasha had more than crossed hers with his omission of his little 'weakness.

Stepping over him with her chin held high in the air, she said breezily, "Try to get up before your next human night, okay Inuyasha?"

What had possessed her to place his head in her lap like that? Sure he'd been human and injured, and she couldn't let suffer a creature that was in pain, but still… And then he'd told her that she smelled good. Sighing a little as she followed the path with uncaring feet, her eyes mellowed to a dreamy hazelnut. It had been so romantic; she'd pretended it was the head of her lover pillowed on her thighs as she stroked the hair that was a little less silky, trying to form an image in her mind of what he would look like from the knowledge gained by her hands.

She was certain that her lord was wrong: she could never dislike him based on appearance because she knew that he was beautiful on the inside. Well, he knew her better on the inside than she did him, really… But she was positive that he was a good person. No amount of scarring or disfiguration could make one a bad person. Strange that: she hadn't felt a single scar on his body, nor felt anything like weird protrusions. His face was smooth and perfect, his skin softer than hers after a day at the spa. The only odd thing she could think of was the fact that he had never touched her with both hands at the same time. Not that she was complaining; he could do amazing things with his-

"Oi, wench!"

She whirled in place and fixed the hanyou with an irritated scowl. "What now, dog-boy?"

His face shot up in flames, ears alternately pinning and perking forward as he clenched his clawed hands into fists. "Nothing!" he barked, bounding in front of her and stomping down the trail.

Shippo snickered in her arms and she glanced down at him, still confused. Winking one bright green eye, he tapped his nose with a tiny claw. Instantly, she understood and blushed, but returned his wink. The little kit had been an invaluable, unexpected ally in her affair, going as far as distracting the hanyou from interrupting a delightfully naughty moonlit jaunt that had involved less walking and more being screwed against the trunk of a cherry tree. Who knew that a neck scarf could also serve as a blindfold? Kagome did!

Maybe when she finally got to go home, she would pick up one of those silk sleeping masks. 'I bet Yuka would have a few more suggestions.' Inuyasha had finally caved to her request to visit her family when it was obvious that his black-hearted brother was nowhere to be found. Kagome thought it was just as well; that guy was scary. Beautiful, but scary.

'Why do the bad guys get all the good looks?' she thought with a huff. Yura had been way too curvy for her own good. Hiten had been cute in a boyish kind of way. Sesshomaru was drop-dead gorgeous, literally, for most people. She wondered if her lord was as good looking and decided that he probably was, as that was a trait that many demons shared. Maybe he was so handsome that anyone who looked at him was turned into a quivering blob of jelly? The gods knew he undid her with a whisper.

Shippo poked her in the ribs, tapping his nose again, and then jerking his head toward the rapidly retreating back of Inuyasha. Sighing again as she hurried to catch up, she filed away the thoughts of her lover for a more private time.

The night just wouldn't come fast enough for Kagome.

XxxxxxxxX

"Mom, have you seen my new uniform skirt?" Kagome leaned back and called out her open bedroom door as she pushed the hangers around in her closet.

"It's in the pile of clean clothes on your bed, dear." Her mother's voice drifted up the stairs from the kitchen, patient and wise, the Finder of Lost Skirts.

"Oh. Thanks Mom!" she abandoned her closet and skipped over to her bed, wincing a little as the movement pulled at the scabs crusting her knees, an unpleasant reminder of her latest attempt to return home. Of course, Inuyasha had faired far worse for the sit command had dropped him beneath the boulder he'd been carrying to the well. She'd doubted she'd ever forget the sound of the hanyou's back being misaligned. He probably wouldn't either. "Are you going to do laundry again soon?"

"If you need it done, dear." Her mother, the Washer of All Things Dirty.

"Thanks Mom!" Pulling the skirt out of the pile, she wrinkled her nose as the small tower of neatly folded garments tilted, and then toppled onto her pink comforter. Like any normal teenage girl, she left the pile as it was and stepped into the skirt, irritated that it showed the damage to her knees but resigned to the fact that there was nothing she could do about it.

Grabbing her backpack from its haunt behind her door, she opened the flap and upended it on the side of the bed that was not taken up by the now less neatly folded clothes. Pens, books, a sliver of quartz she'd found on the road, empty ramen cups and potato chip bags, grimy, travel-stained clothes, and one plastic baggie tumbled out of the backpack. She shoved the dirty clothes onto the floor with a moue of distaste; the pens and books went back into the bag. After a short pause, she swept the garbage into the can by her desk and gave herself a pat on the back for her small shout-out to cleanliness. This left the white plastic grocery bag lying lonely on her comforter, and she picked it up, momentarily at a loss to explain it.

Untying the knot, she peered into its crackling depths and immediately regretted it.

"GAH!" she held the bag at arm's length and mimed a gag. "What on earth? Did something crawl in my bag and DIE?"

"What did you say, dear?"

"Nothing, Mom! Oh!" her mother stepped into the room, laundry basket balanced against her hip, and glanced from Kagome to the plastic bag and back again.

"What do you have there?" Mrs. Higurashi took the bag from her outstretched hand and had a look inside. "Oh my!"

"It's really gross, mom. I'll just throw it away." Kagome moved to take back the bag but her mother shifted it out of her reach.

"This is silk, dear! And you've gotten it wet and dirty and left it to mildew…are these bloodstains?"

"Uhhh…." Kagome watched her mother pull the dingy wad of fabric out of the bag, once again assaulted by the smell of mold and dried blood, and felt her stomach drop out of a hole in her foot. She would have blushed had there been any blood left in her head, but most of it seemed to have gone the way of her stomach. 'I'm such an idiot! I'd forgotten all about that kimono – what if Inuyasha found it?'

"Have you been getting into fights? I thought Inuyasha was going to protect you," Mrs. Higurashi gave her daughter a stern stare, waving the largest of the rusty stains at the suddenly flustered girl.

"…he is…" Kagome tried to protest but was overridden by her mother's next comment.

"And this silk is very fine! Look at the embroidery!" She picked at a few unraveling threads that may have once been red but were now quickly approaching fungus plum. "Where did you get such an expensive kimono? Haven't I taught you to treat things better than this?"

"…ummmm," and all the while, her mind screamed, 'Red Alert! Red Alert!' accompanied by a blaring, crescendoing klaxon. 'What's worse, to tell your mother that you're being injured by demons or being fucked by them?'

"It was like that when I got it!" she blurted, inspiration hitting her between the eyes. "See, this guy, he was helping me out of a cave and he got his shirt all dirty…and I said I'd wash it for him!"

"Which guy?"

"Oh, just some guy I met…" Kagome mentally smacked herself, hard. 'Really, is that the best I can come up with?' Unfortunately, Kagome was still relatively new to the lying game and she quite brilliantly sucked at it. It was so much easier to simply subdue the one who was questioning you.

"And where was Inuyasha during all of this?" her mother's lips formed a thin white line of disapproval, her doe-brown eyes hardening to flint. Her mother, Unraveler of Tall Tales.

"He was…around…" Before her mother could pitch a royal fit, Kagome grabbed her backpack and scampered out of her room. "I gotta go, Mom, or I'll be late for class!"

Silence nipped at her heels and Kagome decided that her little trip to the future was going to be a bit shorter than she had anticipated. She almost wished her mother would yell after her so that she could come up with some suitable refutations by the time she got home. However, there were no breaks for Kagome on the day's agenda, so she crossed her fingers and offered up a prayer that her mother would cool off by evening.

XxxxxxxxX

Kagome trailed the group of teenage girls as they chatted on their way back from school, dread pouring off of her as each step took her closer to her mother's well-deserved ire. It didn't help that her mind had been in knots at the sight of that stupid kimono: there was just something so damned _familiar_ about it. If only it hadn't been so filthy, maybe she could figure out where she'd seen it. With her luck, her mother would shove it in her face, permanently soiled and somehow knowing what she'd been doing in it. Did demon cum stain? By the gods, she was dead.

"What's got you so down, Kagome?" Ayumi startled her out of her thoughts and she almost tripped over a crack in the sidewalk.

"Yeah, I would think that you'd be happy with Hojo all over you!" Yuka added her two cents.

"He's so cute!" Eri agreed, with a little flutter of her eyelashes.

"Cute? He's hot!" Yuka, the self-proclaimed sex expert, exclaimed.

"I guess he's okay," Kagome mumbled, hoping for a change of topic and once again, not getting any breaks.

Eri reared back, aghast, "What do you mean, 'okay'? He's only the most eligible bachelor in school!"

Ayumi waved her hands in a slow, calming gesture, determined to keep the peace. "Relax, girls, maybe Kagome likes someone else."

"You have a boyfriend? Who is he? Do we know him?" Horror forgotten, Eri leaned forward in excitement.

"Well, yeah, I'm kinda seeing someone…"

Yuka stopped walking, bringing the group to a huddled halt, and planted her hands on her hips. "'Kinda' as in dating or 'kinda' as in a steady boyfriend?"

"A little more than just dating…" Kagome suddenly had the urge to spill her guts. For the past few weeks, she'd had to keep her affair a secret from everyone but Shippo, and though he was of immense help, he wasn't the kind of confidant she needed. No, there was nothing like girlfriends to discuss the undiscussable.

"What, like kissing and stuff?" Eri wanted to know.

Kagome couldn't help the little giggle that bubbled up and out of her mouth. "And stuff…"

Eri squealed and hopped in place, wringing her hands at the wrists. "Kagome, did you…let him touch your boobs?"

Kagome nodded shyly and Ayumi gasped dramatically. Eri continued squealing.

"You didn't go down on him, did you?" Yuka asked in disbelief, her eyes widening at Kagome's grin.

"And he's gone down on me, and we've-"

"You didn't!"

"How big is he?"

"Was it good?"

"Did it hurt the first time?"

"Does he have a brother?"

Kagome stopped in the middle of her demonstration of her lover's length when Ayumi's quiet, hopeful inquiry punctuated the barrage of questions. Something about it gave her the willies. However, it was soon replaced by abject fear at Yuka's next statement.

"I hope you guys used a rubber."

"…what?"

"A _rubber_, you know, a condom. Protection so you don't get knocked up."

"…of course," Kagome lied weakly. Birth control had never occurred to her. Stupid, stupid, stupid…

"So what does he look like?" Ayumi asked when it was obvious that Kagome wasn't going to answer her other question.

"I don't really know," Kagome answered, too distracted by the idea of being pregnant at fifteen by a demon whose name she didn't know to remember to lie.

"What do you mean, you don't know?" Eri's bubble of excitement popped almost audibly, and she cocked her head to the side with a look of utter confusion.

'Shit.' Kagome thought hard, determined to salvage at least some of her dignity. "Well, he's very shy and keeps his face covered. But he's tall and has fabulous hair."

"How can you be seeing a guy if you can't see him?" Ayumi asked, tapping her finger on her cheek and looking up at the sky as if the answers were written in the clouds. Kagome wished that they were.

"Shy? He's using you for sex, Kagome. He's a no good punk, you should dump him." Yuka scolded her sternly, little miss gave-a-guy-a-blowjob-behind-the-bleachers.

"No, he's really not like that," Kagome protested half-heartedly. 'Is he using me? Am I using him?' All Kagome knew was that she lived for those trysts, dreamed about his touches as she slept, trembled and ached when he was gone for too long.

"Oh yeah? Then why won't he let you see him? He can't leave you in the dark like this. You have to see the guy who's boning you, Kagome."

"It isn't right," Eri added, emphatically nodding her agreement.

"Actually, it's kind of romantic," Ayumi clasped her hands under her chin and smiled. "A mystery lover who comes to you in the night and leaves you with a memory of love…"

"You're not in love with this guy, are you?" Yuka asked incredulously, leaning into Kagome's face and seriously invading her personal space.

Kagome opened and closed her mouth several times before shrugging helplessly. "Maybe?"

Ayumi sighed, the silly smile widening and her eyes swimming with fantasy, Eri looked to be on the verge of restarting her squeal-hop, and Yuka smirked, giving her friend a knowing look.

"Hojo's got his work cut out for him if he wants to compete with _that_," Yuka measure the air with her hands in imitation of Kagome.

Eri paled, her hand flying over her mouth. "Yuka! You and Hojo?"

Yuka nodded sagely and took center stage as she began her story. "It was a few months ago, right after the winter formal. The girl's bathroom had a line but the boy's looked empty, so I…"

Kagome sighed in relief as the attention moved away from her to Yuka sucking off Hojo in the men's room stall. She almost felt sorry for her friend who always seemed to give head but never receive it. She may not have seen her lord, but at least he'd eaten her out.

XxxxxxxxX

Kagome pulled herself out of the well, her heart heavier than her bag and just as ready to burst as her mother's only words of the afternoon rang in her ears, "I raised you to be a good girl, Kagome, and to make the right decisions. Please try to be more careful."

She hadn't said a word about Kagome's early departure to the past and had simply handed her the freshly laundered kimono, neatly folded and sealed in a clear plastic wrapping, along with several containers of instant food, her expression pleasant and bland but her gaze wary. Her mother's passive disappointment, written in the lines around her eyes and mouth, had lanced at Kagome's soul, the wound oozing the infection of her deceit.

Kagome now knew that she had lost her mother's trust and it hurt more than anything a demon could do to her with his claws.

To top it off, she wasn't due to start her period for another few days and she had never been terribly regular, so she had anywhere from three to seven days of torture and personal hell coming her way as she waited for it. That was the best-case scenario; she didn't want to contemplate the consequences if her 'friend' decided not show up for its monthly visit. And had she remembered to buy condoms when she had picked up Shippo's bribe candy? Of course not! That would have resembled thinking!

Staring at the grass between her brown loafers, Kagome fought back tears. She hadn't been thinking throughout the entire affair. She'd been so caught up in the heat of the moment, enjoying the daring and excitement, loving the pleasure he invoked in her body. She had felt special and cherished, but whom was she kidding? He was using her for sex, just as Yuka had said, and she might, just might, be falling for him.

A cool shadow passed over her and a slight tingle raced up her spine. Sighing, she closed her eyes, wondering if she should end this affair that had suddenly complicated her life. His arm wrapped around the front of her shoulders and pulled her against his armor, tendrils of silky hair caressing her cheek and fanning the embers that always seemed to burn in her belly when he was around.

His words were low and disapproving, an unpleasant reminder of her mother. "You are not to leave like that again."

"I only went home," she answered sullenly. "I told you I was going, remember? Oh, and I had your kimono cleaned."

"You did not say that you fall down a well and disappear from this world. It is not wise to lie to this S-"

"This what?" Kagome asked, resentment hardening the lines of her body. Demons were so full of themselves. "And I wasn't lying; I _did_ go home. That's how I get there."

"It seems you need a lesson in respect, girl," he rumbled, completely ignoring her question. He wrenched the bag from her shoulders, dropping it at her feet, and pulled the kerchief from her blouse. Pressing it into her hand, he whispered in her ear, "Put it on."

Kagome tied the red fabric over her eyes, nervous about what her lord meant by a 'lesson'. Was he going to punish her? He'd never hurt her before and though his words were harsh, the tone of his voice was anything but. Wasn't she thinking about breaking up with him? Arg!

Blindfold in place Kagome stood apprehensively as she waited for his next move. A hand on her hip guided her a step back toward the well, then down almost to her knees where she was bent over two muscled thighs. Claws grazed the back of her legs and pushed up her skirt, and then pulled her panties down to her ankles.

"Hey!" Kagome kicked her legs as she realized what he was up to. "You can't do this to me!" she sputtered, trying to wipe fur out of her mouth. Her hands found the source of the fluff, a long boa-like thing, and latched onto it, giving it a sharp tug for emphasis. 'Maybe he doesn't want me to see him because he's a cross dresser,' Kagome thought uncharitably. The little tickle returned to her mind, egging her toward some conclusion, but she was jolted out of her thoughts by his hand hitting her ass.

The smack on her bottom was loud in the clearing of the Bone Eater's Well and left her cheeks stinging slightly, triggering a sudden rush of moisture to her tight little entrance. The youkai holding her inhaled deeply and wiped a finger across her lips, chuckling a little when Kagome squirmed. Of all the humiliations she had suffered, this had to be a first, but damn if it didn't turn her on.

He struck her again, not hard enough to really hurt, and then squeezed the smarting flesh in his palm. "I assure you, I can."

Kagome thumped the side of his thigh with her small fist. "Let go of me, or I'll scream!"

"Then scream for me," he swatted her reddening cheeks with a little more force and Kagome cried out, not in pain or for rescue, but in mortified delight. Her ass tingled deliciously, jiggling under his onslaught and stimulating her sex. Two long fingers slipped between her folds and into her body, curling when they were buried to the hilt and stretching her at a spot that sent sparks of pleasure through her limbs. Unable to help herself, Kagome groaned and went limp, unsurprised when he chose that moment to chuckle.

"Not so rebellious now, are you, girl."

XXX (edited for content)

She was slightly astonished when his tongue bathed her lips, his teeth nipping gently at the corner of her mouth. The gesture seemed apologetic somehow, though she couldn't imagine her arrogant lord apologizing for anything. Kissing him lightly, she assured him that all was forgiven and that she had enjoyed their playtime. He glided his cheek over hers, nuzzling into her hair and tickling her ear with his moist puffs of breath. Charmed by the show of affection, Kagome giggled and nuzzled him back. He tensed and withdrew fractionally, but enough to drop kick her heart into the mud.

"Do not attempt to use this well again," he whispered in her ear, dispelling the idea that he had been sorry for his forceful treatment of her. He stood and she lost her balance on her knees, falling back and barely catching herself on the heels of her hands. "I will be watching."

"Jerk!" she hissed at him, frowning when she heard a rustling in the direction of her backpack. She felt it when he left, an absent static of his youki against her nerves leaving an uncomfortable emptiness in its place. Yanking off the blindfold and threading it through her collar, she pulled up her panties and closed her backpack. The ass had taken his kimono without a thank you. Sniffling and feeling sorry for herself, unable to cope with the roller coaster of his anger, mischievousness, tenderness, then callousness and the effects that it had on her fragile emotions, she stomped down the forest path to Kaede's village.

There were so many things about him that were utterly confounding or frighteningly familiar and they were beginning to give her a headache. She stopped suddenly in her tracks. 'Yes, familiar…' she thought, her head pounding with each heartbeat. But she just couldn't put her finger on it. In her mind's eyes, colorful pieces of jigsaw puzzle were scattered over a swath of white silk, but try as she might, she couldn't quite fit them together. She had no idea if they even belonged to the same puzzle. They lay there silently, jumbled and disconnected, and she wondered if maybe a few pieces had gone missing.

"Are your brains addled, wench? What're you doing in the forest by yourself?" Inuyasha's gruff shout broke her concentration and she pinched the bridge of her nose to relieve the ache that had settled behind her eyes. Opening her eyes, she glared at the hanyou standing in her way, his arms crossed over his chest.

"Good to see you too, Inuyasha," she snipped.

"Keh," he scoffed, but his voice was a little less harsh than normal. He swept her off her feet and into his arms, taking a not-so-subtle sniff of her hair. Kagome relaxed her head against his chest and shut her eyes, weary of lying and sneaking around, unsolved riddles and scary unknowns. For a brief moment, she allowed herself to pretend that everything was going to work out fine.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Warning: sexual content in this chapter, but not enough to edit. I reiterate – this fic is rate M for a reason!

Thank you for all of the wonderful reviews, and, of course, a big thanks to thymecat for proofing this fic. Amazing eye for detail!

Disclaimer: I do not own any character created by Rumiko Takahashi.

Chapter 5

Focusing her attention on the text in her hand, Kagome tried to ignore the violet robed monk who was slowly inching his way toward her seat on the ground. He was so subtle that at first she thought she'd been imagining it; any time she snuck a glance at him out of the corner of her eyes, he seemed to be sitting in a state of relaxed meditation, staring into the fire. She'd been forced to mark his progress by a small stone lying near the fire pit. Sure enough, he was getting inexorably closer, one inch at a time. Never in her life had she seen someone so perfectly execute the two-cheek scoot while sitting cross-legged.

Maybe if she ignored him, he'd get the hint that she didn't want to be bothered, though she had to admit that that was looking less and less likely.

Inuyasha had certainly picked up fast that she was irritable. She hadn't meant to sit him quite so hard, but really, what had he expected? 'Shard detector, indeed.'

What a thing to say after almost kissing her (and she had almost let him, he'd been so gentle), costing her a piece of her soul, and then allowing her to be kidnapped and felt up by a monk. He was getting lousy marks in protection. His attitude toward her had also changed; after seeing his previous girlfriend, he'd become more distant and reserved, avoiding touching her except to carry her on his back or fend off the amorous monk. She supposed that she shouldn't complain, since she hadn't liked his advances any more than she liked Miroku's, but now she missed the attention. An insidiously unpleasant feeling told her that his only attraction to her had been her raging hormones and her resemblance to the priestess Kikyou. That jerk.

Her lord's behavior was another source of discontent for the teen. He'd been angry that she had the scent of another male on her person and possessive almost to the point of frightening her; not for her own safety but for the males with whom she traveled. But did he sweep her off her feet and carry her away to his castle in the clouds like a proper Prince Charming? No, he pleasured her until she could barely walk and then sent her back to camp with a warning about letting others touch what belonged to him. Though it warmed her to know that her lover felt some attachment to her, Kagome had to admit in her heart of hearts that the skulking around was wearing her down.

She'd tried to broach the subject of birth control, but had blushed so hard that the words had evaporated in her throat. Why could she talk about this stuff with her girlfriends but not with the man with whom she actually had sex? It made no sense and it could possibly have enormous repercussions for them both; however, Kagome had still washed semen from between her thighs without once mentioning using precautions against conceiving a child.

She wondered what she would do if she wound up pregnant: would he abandon her to her fate? Hanyou were not well liked, as she had seen by the reactions of the villagers to Inuyasha. What would Inuyasha do? Dump her down the well and tell her to piss off? What would her _mother_ do? Kick her out of the house or send her to the countryside to marry some yokel? Boy, would that guy be surprised when the baby was born half-demon. What had been a titillating game had suddenly taken a turn for the terrifying. Just the same, Kagome could not help herself; she found that she craved his brief moments of tender affection as much as feeling him move inside of her and she was afraid that no matter how this turned out, she would end up getting hurt.

Gasping, Kagome whirled on the monk and smacked him over the head with her textbook, yanking her bottom out of the cup of his hand. "Keep your hands to yourself, pervert!"

"Now, now, Lady Kagome, I meant no harm. It simply looked lonely and I thought to offer it comfort," Miroku held his hands up in a placating gesture and gave her an innocent smile.

"What do you mean by that?" she hissed between her teeth, incensed at his presumption and the fact that he'd managed to sneak up on her while she'd been wrapped in her thoughts. She may be a trifle paranoid, but she didn't like the way he was waggling his eyebrows; it was as if they shared some private joke.

"Nothing inappropriate, I assure you! Though should you miss the warmth of a male's touch, please know that I am ever at your service." He sketched a mocking bow at her.

'He knows,' she thought to herself. 'And he thinks I'm loose! Why did I ever convince Inuyasha to let him join our group?' Thought she couldn't remember what it was, she was sure she had had a reason.

"Back off, monk, before I pound you into the ground," Inuyasha yelled from his perch in the lower branches of a tree. Leaning forward with a slight snarl to his lips, he looked ready to pounce.

"That's not necessary, Inuyasha!" Kagome called up quickly. Miroku smirked at her and Kagome had a sinking feeling that she would end up having to bribe the monk to keep quiet but she doubted he would be happy with candy. Speaking of which…

Glancing around the campsite, Kagome spied Shippo lounging against her bedroll and lazily sucking on a lollipop. Dropping her text next to her book bag, she gathered her bathing supplies and swept the kit into her arms.

"Bath time!" she sang, spreading a wide, fake smile across her face. Shippo didn't have time to protest before they were well on their way to the chilly little stream near the campsite. "And don't you guys dare follow us!" she called over her shoulder. "I mean it!"

Once they had reached the stream, Kagome dropped her shampoos and held the kit up under his arms to look him eye to eye. Shippo had begun to shake and sweat, his tail a blur as his eyes danced in their sockets.

"Shippo," Kagome warned him, waiting until he met her gaze.

"He suspects!" the kit finally blurted, "but he doesn't know anything for sure!"

"Oh, Shippo, how did this happen?" Kagome whined and sat heavily on the ground. When the kit realized that he wasn't going to be punished, he relaxed and shook his head.

"It was during your 'bath' the other day. He tried to sneak up to the spring but I caught him before he could see anything."

"Then why would he suspect something?"

"Well…" Shippo scratched at his fluffy red ponytail and had the grace to blush. "You, uh, were making a lot of noise…"

"_Oh_," Kagome interrupted him, flushing bright red as she realized to what Shippo was referring. Her lord had been particularly frisky that night and, as though he were attempting to prove that no man could please her like he could, he had done things with his tongue that felt so good that they had to be sinful, if not downright illegal. Hard pressed not to scream in ecstasy, she had bitten her lip until it bled (which he'd later licked up with a growl of pleasure) but had not been able to stifle all of her moans. "What am I going to do?"

"Maybe you should use your scarf as a gag instead of a blindfold," Shippo suggested casually.

Kagome stared at him with her mouth hanging open, aghast. She did not want to know how he had found out about that. "_Shippo!"_

The kit shrugged and gave her a lopsided grin. "Don't worry, Kagome. I've got your back. You brought me candy, remember?" He held up the purple lollipop for her inspection. "Besides," he said, his voice lowering to a whisper as his expression darkened, "that youkai knows that I'm in on this and if something were to happen to you, he'd kill me."

"What!" Kagome gasped, horrified, clutching Shippo tightly to her chest. She would never have involved the kit if she'd known she was putting him in danger. "Surely he wouldn't!"

Shippo cuddled closer, sucking on his lollipop like a teat. "Youkai males are protective of their bitches. He might let you stay with Inuyasha and Miroku for now, but if one of them hurt you or took you from him, even if you went willingly…"

He shuddered and Kagome tightened her arms around him. 'I'm such a horrible person!' she thought, guilt churning in her stomach. She was sinking in a quagmire of lies and deception, the mud pulling at her feet and crawling up her thighs, but she had no intention of pulling Shippo down with her. How soon until it would begin to flow down her throat and block the air from her lungs? Maybe she should learn to breath underwater.

"I don't want you to get hurt," she whispered to the bundle of fox demon in her arms. "I won't ask you to do this anymore."

Leaning away from her chest to look her in the eyes, Shippo shook his head, flashing her a quick grin around the stick of his sucker. "Too late: he wouldn't allow me to stop even if I wanted to. And you need a strong demon like me to watch over you and make sure you can see your-"

"My what?" she prompted, wondering what it was about demons and not finishing their sentences.

Shippo sniffed and crossed his arms, trying to put on an air of superiority, but it was ruined by the lollipop and the fact that he was cradled in her arms. "It's a youkai thing. You wouldn't understand."

"I suppose I wouldn't," Kagome rolled her eyes and breathed a long-suffering sigh. If Shippo was content to coordinate her affair and her lover would have it no other way, then she was resigned to allowing it. After all, it didn't look like there was a thing she could do about it, including breaking it off. Not that she wanted to do that; the idea of leaving him tore at her soul with claws sharper than that of Urusae's soul-stealing spell.

"Shippo," she said suddenly, startling the kit with the intensity of her low whisper. "Have you ever seen him?"

Giving her a long, hard stare, the kit rolled the sucker around in his mouth before finally answering her, "Not really, but I can sense that he's very powerful."

"My friends say that he's using me."

Shrugging noncommittally and giving her the impression of a much older being than he appeared, he punctuated his next statement with a jab of his lollipop. "You're thinking about peeking. I wouldn't, if I were you. If he's hiding himself, then he has a very good reason."

'I should never have gotten involved with a demon,' Kagome bemoaned to herself. 'It seemed like a good idea at the time!' And not just any demon, a powerful one with a need to keep secrets! Why did stuff like this always have to happen to her? Setting the kitsune on the ground, Kagome clambered to her feet, "Well, I guess we should take that bath."

Shippo snickered, mischief dancing in his green eyes.

"_Shippo!_ I mean, a _real_ bath!" What did he take her for, a hentai?

"Sure, Kagome."

XxxxxxxX

In the three years she had spent as a sexually mature female, Kagome could never remember greeting grinding cramps in her abdomen with such relieved enthusiasm. What she had always scathingly referred to as a curse in previous months was now a blessing. Clutching her sides and leaning forward slightly as she sat in front of the fire, Kagome grinned through the pain and thanked all that was holy that something had gone _right _for a change.

"What's wrong with you?" Inuyasha cocked his head and twitched his ears in a look of puppy-like confusion.

Miroku smirked and opened his mouth but Kagome cut him off at the pass before he could say anything incriminating. Not that Inuyasha would get it; he was a blockhead when it came to innuendo and subtlety. "It's nothing, Inuyasha! I'm fine."

He took a long whiff in her direction, and then his eyes widened to golden saucers. Kagome didn't like that bright, slightly vacant look in his eyes, nor the way his nose twitched but his ears perked straight forward, locked on her. If he had had a tail, she was sure that it would have been swishing the air behind him.

The hanyou advanced on her slowly, almost crawling on his hands and feet. After each step, he would pause and sniff and Kagome had the impression that he wasn't really seeing her; he seemed to be looking inward or relying on his other senses for information. She leaned back a little in her seat, ready to scoot away if he tried something weird. Miroku was watching all of this with a raised eyebrow and a quirk of his lips. No source of help there.

Stopping about a foot from her folded legs, Inuyasha sniffed her, rising up on his haunches and then hunching over to taste the air all around her body, his nostrils flaring wider the closer he got to her crotch. Moving her arm calmly to her side, Kagome picked up a spiral bound notebook and swung it into the side of his face.

He yelped and reared back, blinking in hurt and confusion. Kagome almost felt sorry for him: almost. "What was that for?"

"Honestly, Inuyasha," the monk spoke up. "For how long did you know Lady Kikyou?"

"What has that got to do with anything?" he groused, rubbing the side of his face.

"Surely you must have encountered her monthly-"

"_Miroku!_" Kagome protested, blushing and utterly mortified.

Inuyasha flushed bright red but didn't back away. "That was different!"

"Indeed no, every woman of child-bearing years-"

Kagome lobbed the notebook at the monk and it hit his face with a flutter of lined pages. "Do you mind?"

Miroku swatted at the notebook, giving it a curious glance as he tossed it out of reach of the fuming girl. "My lady, I was merely attempting to explain to our thick friend-"

Hands balled into fists, she interrupted with an impressive growl, "I _know_ what you were trying-"

"That's not what I meant!" Inuyasha interjected between the arguing humans. "It's _different_! _She's_ different!"

"Of course I'm different! I'm not Kikyou!" she rounded on the hanyou and shouted in his face. The Kikyou Issue was a sore spot for her; Inuyasha took every opportunity to remind her that she wasn't the markswoman that Kikyou had been; that she didn't have her spiritual powers. She said and did all sorts of stupid things that Kikyou never would have said or done. If there was nothing Kagome had learned to hate more, it was being compared to a glorified funerary urn and coming up short.

"Well that's fucking obvious!"

Scrambling to her feet, she glared down at Inuyasha. "Osuwari!" The hanyou was leaning backward and the force of the spell laid him flat on his back, giving him a clear view of Kagome's furious face. "See if Kikyou can do that!"

"Kikyou wouldn't do that!" he spat up at her.

"Friends, please calm yourselves…" Miroku tried to diffuse the situation and was summarily ignored.

"No, she'd seal you to a tree!" Kagome was beyond livid. How idiotic could one half-demon be? She'd stolen fifty years of his life, for kami's sake, and now that she had been resurrected, he would only defend her! Spinning on her heels, she stormed away from the campsite and into the trees, angry at the hanyou for pressing her buttons and spoiling her good mood and angry with herself for letting him. Who was he to her, anyway? A traveling companion, and not even a good one, at that!

A strange buzzing tickled her ears and she stopped, glancing around at the dark canopy of branches overhead, suddenly wishing that she'd brought Shippo along. Where was the kit, by the way? He hadn't been at the campsite, now that she thought about it, and that wasn't like him. Usually, she had her own personal kitsune appendage.

The volume of the buzzing increased for a moment, and then abruptly ceased. 'Bees?' she thought to herself incredulously. 'But I thought they slept at night?'

The familiar prickle of youki raced down her spine and she released the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. A hand reached around her waist to cup the mound between her legs, drawing her against a muscled chest as breath fanned her cheek.

"The scent of your anger is as delicious as that of your blood," he whispered into her ear and her neck erupted in an explosion of gooseflesh.

"I'm lucky to be bleeding at all!" she whispered back, trying to retain her anger despite the fact that someone had snapped all the threads that held her body upright. He nudged the fabric of her shirt off of her shoulder with wet, open-mouthed kisses. "What if we-"

"You would have been honored to bear my pup." His fingers pressed against her, prodding at the thick liner that separated him from her heat. She let her eyes slowly drop, tilting her head down only when her eyes could go no further. The white sleeve of his under-kimono stood out stark in the close shadows of the dark forest. His pale hand almost seemed to glow in the wan light of the moon that managed to creep through the dense overgrowth, except for where two dark slashes marred the skin, wrapping around his wrist and curling over the back of his hand.

'What a beautiful hand,' she thought, desperate to see the rest of him but not daring to turn her head and catch a glimpse of his bent head. Besides, watching that large, clawed hand push away the hem of her skirt and pull aside the crotch of her panties to manipulate her sticky folds had to be one of the most erotic things she had ever seen.

"But-"

He silenced her with a bite to the inside of her collarbone. "Now is not the time for that."

She wasn't sure if she liked the sound of that at all, but couldn't seem to focus as she felt a long digit push into her body and watched the base of his thumb rub slow, firm circles over her clit. She wanted to ask what he meant and how he would prevent it. She wanted to ask why he thought she would be honored to bear anyone's child, let alone some demon whom wouldn't let her see him. She wanted to ask him to add another finger or two to her aching passage, or better yet, the throbbing length pressed against her backside, but all she could vocalize was a breathless, "Nnggh!" as his fangs broke through the skin of her shoulder.

A cramp twisted in her womb, reminding her that she was not at her most fuckable. Twining her fingers in his hair and placing a hand over his as he massaged her folds, she rubbed her cheek against the top of his silky head. "Wait, we can't do this. I'm…you know."

"Do I seem repulsed by you?" he asked as if she were a small child having difficulty understanding a simple truth.

"No, but…"

"Kagome!" her name echoed through the trees, muffled but disturbingly close. Her heart skipped a beat as her lord stiffened behind her, his hand pulling out of her panties to grasp her waist. The growl that rumbled through his chest was low and vicious, sending a tremor of fear through her gut for the hanyou that was crashing toward them. The arm around her tensed, claws pricking her skin, and still he made no motion to leave.

She was suddenly aware of the buzzing sound from earlier, much closer and coming from directly behind her. 'Does he have a beehive in his pocked or is he just happy to see me?' Kagome thought with a silent, hysterical giggle.

Miroku's voice joined that of the hanyou's, "Kagome, where are you?"

Her lover's growl vibrated through her body and for a fleeting moment she felt her feet rise off of the forest floor. Time stopped for an impossible moment: moonlight mottled dark leaves that halted mid-shiver, an offended owl peered at them with glowing yellow eyes, its neck frozen at a zigzagged angle, a mosquito hovered over her arm as if hesitating to grab a late-night snack. Kagome was preternaturally aware of all of this and nothing as she strained her eyes for the first damning glimpse of red and silver. He would see them and he would know…

She fell backward as she was left standing unsupported, a cold breeze replacing the warmth of her lover's breath on her neck, just as Inuyasha burst through the trees in front of her. He skidded to a halt, barely managing to avoid running her over, and stared at her sprawled form with wide, glassy eyes.

"Kagome, are you okay? Did you see him?"

"Wh-what? Him? Who?"

Trembling as the adrenaline rush receded, Kagome sat in the mulch and tried to make sense of what her friend was saying and hoping that what Shippo had said about her lover hiding his scent was still true.

"The demon, wench! Where is he? I can smell his stench; I know he was here!" he snapped with his usually tact and diplomacy, invading her personal space as he pushed his face up to hers.

"Which demon? Nobody's here but us!"

Panting harshly as he joined the small group, Miroku gasped out, "We both felt the presence of evil, and Inuyasha traced the scent to here. We were afraid that it may have found you before we could!"

"Kaaaaaa-goooo-meeeeeeeee!" a bullet of red fur hit her diaphragm at warp speed.

"Oof!" Dazed and struggling to stay upright, Kagome gasped as she tried to reclaim the air that had been so unceremoniously knocked out of her, her arms wrapping unconsciously around the fox child.

Inuyasha made a swipe at his tail, "Get offa her, runt!"

"Leave me alone, you big meany! I was worried about Kagome!" Shippo yelled from her embrace.

"But I'm fine!" Kagome tried not to wail but tears were rapidly forming behind her eyes. However, she wasn't fine. It was too much: the stress of waiting to see if she were pregnant, Inuyasha's bizarre behavior, the roaming hands of the monk, not to mention her frightening feelings for a demon who she only knew physically, topped off by a generous dollop of almost being caught with said lover and a sprinkling of hormonal imbalance and, well, Kagome really wanted a good cry. She deserved it, in fact.

Tears spilled over her bottom lids and Inuyasha reared back, waving his hands frantically with an expression of near panic plastered on his face, his ears pinned flat against his skull. "Don't cry! Why are you crying? You said you were fine!"

Shippo blinked up at her with limpid green eyes, his face crumbling slowly as he whimpered.

"Whoa, there's no need for that!" Miroku looked as nonplussed as the hanyou, though instead of flapping his arms, he was making soothing gestures.

'Idiots,' Kagome thought as the first sob shook her body. Throwing his head back, Shippo let loose a mournful yowl.

"Shippo! Demons don't cry!" Inuyasha snapped and was rewarded with another howl from the kit and a shuddering hiccup from Kagome. Glanced around wildly, he dropped to his haunches in front of them. "Look! I'm sorry about what I said back there. Please stop!"

"Words spoken in anger are often not meant from the heart," Miroku confirmed, trying to adopt a pious air but only succeeding in looking anxious. "Come, we should get back to camp. There is evil in this forest. You are lucky that you were not attacked."

'Lucky, my left elbow,' Kagome groused silently between the tears as she rocked the weeping kit. What had started out as a joyous, if painful, evening had become decidedly sour. The only things that could be salvaged were that facts that she was not expecting, she had not been caught, and that she had seen her lover's right hand. 'Stripes,' she mused. 'I wonder where else he has them?'

Staggering to her feet, Shippo balanced on one hip, Kagome pushed away the monk's helping hands, knowing where they would eventually end up. With her lover potentially close, she did not need him coping a feel. If what Shippo had said was true, then that would have been the last adventure of the amorous monk, Miroku.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Sorry this is late! I was out of town. I'm also behind in answering reviews, but I WILL answer them! A special thanks to my beta, thymecat, for saving this chapter from suck-dom. A couple more reviewers have figured out what this fic is based on: AngelsRebellion and ladyofthedragons1! (applause) If anyone else wants to hazard a guess, fee free and I'll admit to it if you are right. Or, you can wait until the end of the last chapter where I will post it in an author's note.

Thanks for all of your support!

Disclaimer: I do not own any character created by Rumiko Takahashi.

Chapter 6

Inuyasha leaned over her shoulder and cocked his head as he peered at her neat handwriting. Before she could close it, he snatched away the notebook and held it open by its spiraled metal binding.

"Inuyasha, give that back!" she lunged for it with an outstretched hand, missing it by a mile when he agilely twisted out of her reach.

"What is this?" he asked, a sharp edge to his voice.

"It's MINE! Give it!" Kagome growled, grasping for it again, only to find her forehead planted in his palm as he calmly held her back. Kagome swung her hands at him, but he was out of slapping range.

"Who the fuck are you describing?" he waved the open book just out of her reach, his claws puncturing the flimsy paper near the pre-punched holes. She gave up on her futile attempt to grab it and crossed her arms, sending him a fulminating glare. Ignoring it in favor of getting a closer look at the page, he tapped a cluster of penciled hearts with a claw, "And what are these funny dented circles?"

'He doesn't know anything,' Kagome reminded herself frantically, toeing the line of panic as she tense for another swipe at the incriminating notebook. "No one! Nothing!" she snapped in what she hoped was a tone that couldn't possibly be hiding a secret, but only sounded defensive and slightly desperate as it rang in her ears.

"Kagome," he said, his voice strangled and uncertain, the tips of his ears quivering as the rest of his body tensed and froze. Kagome swallowed audibly in the stillness, her eyes locked on his ears with a morbid fascination. Suddenly, he looked straight into her eyes and pushed the notebook under her nose, his words brittle and clipped, "Why are you writing about my brother?"

Kagome's heart did a somersault and she somehow managed to trip over her feet while standing perfectly still. She landed on her butt on the tatami mats covering the wooden floor and her heart seemed to smash right through the floorboards. Her thoughts moved sluggishly, flowing and eddying around his words but not gaining purchase on their slick surfaces. Did he mean Sesshomaru? He must have another brother that he had failed to mention. Falling back into the safety net of denial, Kagome bit out, "I'm not!"

"Those are his markings!" he pointed to a sketch of a clawed hand with two stripes slashing the wrist.

Pushing to her feet, she leaned into his face with her arms straight at her sides, hands clenched into tightly balled fists. "They are not! Don't be ridiculous! And stop shouting or you'll disturb the innkeeper!" Kagome hollered and stomped a stockinged foot.

"Wench! You're the one who's fucking shouting-"

"Don't call me a wench, dog-boy! And you're just jealous that Miroku found us a decent place to stay instead of making us camp again!"

"I ain't jealous of that lech!"

"You are, too! Give me that!" she swiped the forgotten notebook from his hand and flounced back to her borrowed futon, shoving the book under her bedding. Sitting on the slight, rectangular lump, she dared him with a glare to come after it. Inuyasha seemed to consider it; his eyes darted from her face to her futon and back again, his ears pinned to the back of his skull. Finally, he harrumphed and turned his back on her, flopping down in the doorway of the little house and staring out into the darkness, Tetsusaiga propped on his shoulder.

After fifteen long minutes of staring at his broad, angry, red back, she eased the notebook from under her butt and opened it to the page on which she had been doodling.

_Claws and Fangs heart, heart_

_One hand?_

_Silver_

_Fluff puffy little heart_

_Armor_

_Silk_

_Hair! big heart_

_Lord_

_Wet dog_

_Pup_

And next to her list was a rough sketch of his hand as she remembered it from last night, though of course she hadn't included what he'd been holding in the picture. She stared at the list and then stared at her drawing. A frown creased the skin between her brows and she pulled her bottom lip between her teeth to gnaw. Glancing from the page to her hanyou friend, her eyes fixated on his twitching silver ears, and then darted back to the bottom of her list.

'Nooooo…' It was impossible, right? Sesshomaru was a cruel, black-hearted bastard who had not hesitated to spray bone-melting acid on her! He hated anything with human blood; he wouldn't stoop to helping one through a cave, let alone maintaining an illicit love affair with one! There had to be lots of striped, one-armed inu-taiyoukai that wore armor and fluff! Sesshomaru was a monster and she was NOT screwing a monster!

Kagome snapped the book closed and shoved it back under the futon, completely disgusted with the illogical path down which her mind had wandered. To even _consider_ the idea that her passionate, sometimes affectionate lover could be the cold Aristocratic Assassin was utter lunacy. Absolute insanity! Rid-god-damn-diculous!

'But what if…'

"No!" she said out loud, trying to drown out her internal voice. Inuyasha's ears flicked toward her and she scowled at the back of his head. With a small creak, he pulled the claws he'd embedded in the wooden floor and began to drum them in a fast, steady rhythm. Suddenly, his spine straightened and he climbed to his feet with predatory grace, a small snarl curling his upper lip.

"Hey guys, look what I found!" Shippo bounced into the room, followed by two servants laden with trays of steaming food. They eyed Inuyasha cautiously as they set the trays on the floor and hastened out of the room.

"Oh wow, Shippo! Is all of this for us?" Kagome clapped her hands and picked up a bowl of rice, inhaling deeply and sighing with pleasure at the smell of real food.

"Yeah, the innkeeper sent it with his compliments in payment for Miroku's exorcism!"

Inuyasha crossed his arms and leaned against the doorframe, casting a disgusted eye at the food though his nose twitched. "Humph. Exorcism, my ass. Where is that pervert, anyway?"

Kagome declined to answer in favor of cramming a wad of rice into her mouth.

"What's got you so uptight, Inuyasha?" Shippo asked around a mouthful of dumpling.

"Who says I'm uptight?" he snapped back, then startled when a frog croaked in a nearby pond.

"Well, you almost growled at those serving girls and just now-"

Kagome muttered out of the corner of her mouth, "Drop it, Shippo." She didn't want to scrape the kit off of the floor tonight.

To her surprise, Inuyasha just huffed and stared into the night. "There's something in the air…it don't feel right."

XxxxxxxX

Sitting at the bottom of the well, heedless of the blood gluing her shirt to her chest and the small rocks digging into the back of her thighs, she stared at the packed dirt wall with dull eyes. 'His voice…it was the same voice…'

Her head throbbed with that realization. No matter how hard she had tried to push it away in order to concentrate on her friend's injuries, she couldn't help but hear her lover's velvety voice issuing from the same lips that had demanded Inuyasha's death; that had proclaimed her own worthlessness. It skipped through her mind like a broken record, the words garbled and nonsensical but _that voice…_

She had fired three arrows and missed Sesshomaru's heart, _purposefully_.

He'd appeared on the shoulder of an enormous ogre, as beautiful and terrible as a lightning storm, and just as deadly. His silver hair had glittered in the moonlight, combed by the breeze as he glided through the air toward Inuyasha. Kagome had caught her breath when he landed; admiring the burnished gold of his eyes but tensing for the battle that she knew was coming. Eyes roaming his face, she'd traced the blue crescent moon on his forehead, and then moved to the slashed stripes on his cheeks while her stomach had fluttered uncomfortably.

Then he spoke…

In Pavlovian response, a spark had ignited in her belly and she'd squeezed her legs together to relieve the ache between them. The words were lost in the fog that had descended on her brain, the satin tones sliding over her skin like lips in the dark. Shivering, she'd rubbed the backs of her arms to lay flat the tiny hairs that had risen. The crack of a whip had brought her out of her daze, and she'd shaken herself, berating herself for mistaking her lover's voice for that of this fiend. After all, her lord had one hand and Sesshomaru now had two!

The battle had been a blur as Inuyasha fought the demon lord for the blade and she had defended the hanyou with strengthened resolve. Not even the fiercely buzzing insects that swarmed from the hive that Sesshomaru had carried could shake her steadfast heart; it proved nothing. Nevertheless, Sesshomaru's rich tenor had chimed through her soul with each word he had spoken, cracking the fragile image she'd crafted of her lover as if it were a crystal glass resonating to the frequency of his tone.

"_This is the end for you. Die."_ They were _wrong words _and yet the _same voice. _

But it couldn't be true! There was _no way…_so she'd swallowed her confusion and lust and had fired a sacred arrow at the transformed blade of the sword of protection, leaving an irritated demon lord with a bejeweled arm and a rusty, useless sword. His golden eyes had glanced her way, flickering with some unnamed emotion that burrowed into her heart and held her rooted to the spot, even when he had lunged at her with claws outstretched. Razor-sharp, lethal claws that glowed green with caustic poison and extended from a blue-striped hand. Strangely, she had felt no fear; simply standing there as if waiting to be swept into his arms. She could kick herself now, but then…it had seemed like the most natural thing to do and she had almost been disappointed when Inuyasha had snatched her out of harm's way. His striped hand had filled her mind's eye as she'd doctored a poisoned Miroku and rejoined the fray.

The second arrow she nocked to her bow was aimed for the jewel shard in his left arm, but her hands had been shaking so badly that she'd missed and struck his armor. The metal had shattered and she'd almost cried out when he'd sent her a molten look of disapproval.

"_Make her stop, Inuyasha."_

Of course, she hadn't stopped. He had caught her third arrow in mid-air, dissolving it with a hiss of green fumes and sent a blast of energy scorching toward her. She remembered nothing after that until she had woken in Miroku's arms, the sight of Sesshomaru's arm impaling Inuyasha's stomach etched into the backs of her eyeballs.

Her reluctance to kill almost cost the life of her protector.

She'd never seen Inuyasha so horribly injured; after the battle and Sesshomaru's disdainful retreat with his horribly little servant, he had fallen face first in a pool of his own blood and spent the next few hours unconscious. Even the potent healing power of his demonic blood had been challenged by the festering, gaping hole in his stomach, compliments of his dear half-brother. She didn't even want to contemplate Inuyasha's reaction to the news that his lover's reincarnation was sleeping with his sadistic, despised brother. When that volcano erupted, she'd like to be living it up on the moon somewhere; unfortunately, it would be her that triggered the explosion.

Was Sesshomaru her lover?

All of the evidence pointed to that very conclusion, yet it seemed impossible. Groaning aloud, she dropped her head in her hands. Her eyes felt hot and sticky, her nose burned and her throat ached, but the tears refused to come. There had to be lots of striped, one-armed inu-taiyoukai that wore armor and fluff _and_ had a voice that turned her bones to rubber! Right?

As Kagome sat moaning and rocking her body at the bottom of the musty well, one truth burned brightly through her chaotic jumble of broken thoughts: Sesshomaru had had the power to kill them all with one stroke of the sword, but_ they were still alive_. He'd attacked her twice and she'd escaped with only a few bruises and a lump on the back of her head to show for it. He'd let her live, _purposefully_.

Had he really come for just the sword?

She'd tended Miroku's and Inuyasha's wounds in a fog after the battle was over, administering anti-venom and applying bandages with hands that seemed detached from her body, controlled by someone else. Chitchat and concerned words had tumbled from her lips and they must have done their job for no one had asked her why she was floating two feet above her body. So removed from her surroundings, she had let Inuyasha embrace her at the well and could only put up a token resistance as he tore the jewel shard from her neck and pushed her over the edge of the well. It was far too late to do anything once she realized that the shard was her ticket back to the past.

She may never see her lover again. His identity could remain a mystery; the question of whether he was Sesshomaru or simply a demon with coincidentally similar traits may go unanswered. Kagome made a helpless, frustrated sound at the back of her throat and pounded the dank earth with her fist.

"What do I do?" she whispered to herself in the darkness of the well house, her voice echoing up the chute and rustling through the rough wooden building.

XxxxxxxX

Kagome walked behind her friends by several paces, staring at the cracks in the sidewalk as they passed under her feet but not really seeing them. She couldn't quite remember being this miserable: she was so far behind in all of her classes that she had understood nothing that was presented during class. It didn't help that her concentration was crap because she couldn't stop thinking about the possible identity of her lord and that she had let Inuyasha hug her, and then trap her in the future.

Oh, was her lord going to be pissed. Even if it turned out that he wasn't Sesshomaru (and sometimes, she could actually convinced herself that he wasn't) and she hadn't shot purifying arrows at him in the defense of his half-brother, she had still let another male embrace her and she had returned home without even saying anything. Not that she felt obliged to answer to him; she could home whenever she liked. She certainly didn't need _two_ possessive demons telling her what she could and couldn't do: one was already one too many.

Now she had a date with Hojo. How on earth had that happened? Yes, she had wanted to prove the point that she was an independent, normal teenager, but she wasn't the least bit interested in the boy. He was sweet, kind, and infernally boring. Nothing at all like her mysterious, passionate lover…who was _not_ named Sesshomaru.

Stopping short just before running into Yuka, who stood with arms and legs akimbo, Kagome had a sinking feeling in her gut that she was in for a lecture.

"You better go on that date with Hojo," Yuka waggled a disapproving finger at her.

Resentful and irritated, Kagome frowned at her, "I said I'd go, didn't I?"

"For someone who has a date with one of the cutest guys in school, you don't look thrilled. You're not still seeing that punk, are you?"

"Like _seeing_ is the word for it," Eri commented snidely behind her hand to Ayumi, who had the decency to look embarrassed.

Kagome sighed heavily. Having just spent an entire day gnawing on this particular problem, she wasn't inclined to pull it into the open for her nosy, hentai friends to pick apart. "I don't really want to talk about it."

"Then you _are_ seeing him. Or whatever," Eri crowed triumphantly.

Yuka smirked and looked down her nose at Kagome. "He's no good for you. Go on that date and forget you ever met him."

"But if she really cares for him…" Ayumi started, but was hushed by a quelling glare from Yuka.

"If you like Hojo so much, then why don't _you_ date him?" Kagome groused.

Yuka's eyes widened momentarily then narrowed to slits as if insulted. "I'm just looking out for you, Kagome. There's no need to get nasty."

"I wasn't-"

"I bet you haven't even seen his face yet, have you? At least I know who I do!"

Opening her mouth to protest, Kagome blinked rapidly and dropped her eyes back to the sidewalk. Ayumi gave her a concerned look. "Did you see him, Kagome?"

"I…"

"What is it?"

How could she explain this so that they would understand? Obviously, they wouldn't let her get away without telling them something. Maybe if she hinted at the problem, they could even give her some advice. "I think…he might be in a gang."

Three horrified gasps robbed the local airspace of its oxygen and a forty-ish man walking around their small group and rolled his eyes at the teenage dramatics. 'If only he knew,' Kagome thought longingly, almost wishing that she'd never been to the Feudal Era or had an encounter with a mysterious, sexy demon lord.

"I think this calls for milkshakes," Eri declared solemnly, and the motion was approved with the nods of three dark heads.

Crammed into the tiny plastic booth of the local WacDonald's, Kagome met the stern stares of her friends as she slurped her chocolate 'shake through a straw. Finally, Eri broke the stalemate and set her milkshake aside, placing a hand on the table and leaning forward.

"A gang, Kagome? This is bad."

"No wonder he didn't want you to see his face: he didn't want to involve you in gang business!" Ayumi said earnestly around her straw.

Kagome blinked and sat back. Put that way, her lover's actions didn't seem so harsh. If he were, in fact, Sesshomaru, then maybe he was protecting her by hiding his identity!

"Humph! Who cares why he did it! You don't want anything to do with a gang," Yuka snapped. "You could get seriously hurt!"

"I know," Kagome mumbled and sucked another mouthful of chocolate sludge into her mouth, wincing when the cold drove an ice pick into her brain.

"Wait a second!" Eri prodded the table with a finger. "You said you _think_ he's in a gang…you don't know for certain?"

"Well, no…not for sure…"

"That's a serious accusation, Kagome! You have to find out the truth! You might even have to turn him in to the police. Would they put you in the witness protection program?" Eri's eyes widened to saucers.

Yuka shot her a superior smirk, "Really, Kagome, you're supposed to find this stuff out before he bones you."

Slowly setting her milkshake on the table, Kagome gave her perverse friend a blank look. "Oh? And do you remember the name of every guy you've blown?" Fighting to keep her expression blank, Kagome tried not to notice as Eri fell out of her seat and Ayumi blushed bright red. 'I can't believe I said that out loud.'

With a dour pout, Yuka captured her straw between her lips and took a long draw from her 'shake. 'I guess that means no,' Kagome allowed a little triumph to seep into her inner voice.

Eri finally managed to right herself but kept her eyes on her milkshake. Giggling behind her hand, Ayumi shot Kagome a wink with twinkling eyes as Yuka excused herself to go to the bathroom. Inordinately pleased with herself for getting the best of her pushy, oversexed friend, Kagome finished her 'shake in silence.

'Eri is right: I have to know the truth, one way or the other.' Chewing the end of her straw, Kagome stared blankly out the window, oblivious to the traffic and bustle on the street outside. 'If he _is _Sesshomaru, then he has to realize that I will suspect him; if he isn't, well, it's time that I meet my lover face to face. Either way, I _will_ see him.'


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Lemon Alert! Edited for content – see my profiles for links to the unedited version. A Single Spark is back up, so the link should work. A big Thank You! to my beta who, despite the demands on her time, still corrects my gibberish! And thanks to all of you who reviewed but to whom I couldn't respond.

Disclaimer: I do not own any character created by Rumiko Takahashi.

Chapter 7

Slinking through the shadows of the twilit woods with a shaky hand wrapped around a small vial of Shikon no Kakera, Kagome wondered if the whole forest could hear her heart hammering in her chest or if it was deafening just to her. She knew that she should be thankful that she'd gotten out of a dreary date with Hojo and that Shippo had been at the bottom of the well just when she had tried to cross time. She also knew that she should be glad that the already injured Inuyasha hadn't been killed during the brief tussle with the jewel-crazed Royokan and his hounds of hell, and that tonight was his human night when he was too wrapped up in his own misery to realize that she had left. She definitely knew that what she was doing was dangerous, probably stupid, and potentially fatal. Unfortunately, Kagome's common sense had gone by the wayside since she'd been trapped in the cave and prudent, practical thinking had hopped a flight to Paris.

The plan was this: to sneak into the woods and away from the village in the hopes that her lover would take the opportunity to meet her. If he didn't…well, she would just have to sneak back to bed. However, Kagome was fairly certain that she'd felt the gentle tingle of his youki several times this evening and that he was as anxious to see her as she was to see him. And see him she would: that's where things got dangerous. Kagome refused to spend anymore time wondering whether or not she was doing the nasty with Sesshomaru.

A lurking tree root wrapped around her ankle and flung her into a prickly bush that rattled and creaked in protest. As she dragged herself out of it, detaching the hem of her skirt from a particularly tenacious twig, Kagome took it as a good omen for her upcoming encounter that the bush did not have any thorns. Not that she was superstitious, or anything stupid like that.

No, she was just plain _stupid_ – stealing through the forest at night with nothing but a borrowed kitchen knife that she _hoped_ she could charge like she could her arrows to meet a demon that _may_ be the infamous Lord Sesshomaru; a kitchen knife that she intended to use against him if he seemed homicidal, which to Kagome, looked more and more likely. Hell, she was mad at herself for being such a twit. Only the card-carrying insane would continue an affair with an unknown demon and then plan to meet him alone and (if she was completely honest with herself) unarmed after finding out that he might be a psychopathic killer. No wonder she was seeing omens in the results of her clumsiness.

But did she turn back? No, of course not! To not see him, touch him, taste him, would kill her more surely than being torn apart by acid-dripping claws. Lips pursed tightly as she brushed dirt from her knees, knife tucked into her jacket pocket, penlight clipped to a belt loop of her skirt, the intrepid teen crept further into the darkling woods and wondered from which parent she inherited her foolish bravery and insatiable lust. She hoped that lust was all she felt for him, especially if he did turn out to be Sesshomaru; anything more would be disastrous, though how things could get worse was beyond her.

"Stupid!" pausing to smack her forehead with the palm of her hand, Kagome cursed herself for the jinx. "Things _always_ get worse when you think that!"

With a huff and a mental slap, she continued her trek, finally stopping at a secluded, rocky spring that was choked with climbing vines and closed, trumpet-shaped flowers. Water trickled from between a crack in the rocks to tinkle in a shallow pool. Though barely large enough for one person to soak, it was lovely and inviting, and Kagome wasn't inclined to be picky. She was just too damn nervous and tired.

The fingers of his youki danced through her mind and she shivered, clutching the backs of her arms in the false chill. Taking several deep breaths against the quickening of her pulse, she tried to tell herself that nothing had changed; he was still her lord and her lover, come to worship her body as no one else could. Still, her muscles were tense and she knew that her fingers would shake if she let go of her arms. However, he remained hidden; his powerful aura belying his proximity but of the demon himself, she could neither see nor hear a sign. Settling on the bank of the spring with her legs folded to the side and her back against one of vine-covered boulders, Kagome resigned herself to the little game he chose to play. She would wait…but not forever.

An insistent poking of her butt woke her, and she quickly realized that she had dozed off alone by the spring sitting up, but now was lying in the undergrowth and had company; horny company, by the feel of it. Blinking the sleep-induced fog from her brain, she tried to twist around to face him, for she had no doubt that the person spooning her was her lord, but a gentle, immovable hand rested against her cheek and held her still. So he wanted to continue this charade…she would let him, for the moment.

Hot breath washed over her neck as he leaned over her, followed by a thick tongue that traced the line of her jaw. A lock of hair, shining bluish-silver in the wan light of the new moon, tumbled over her shoulder to tickle her chest and a shiver raced down her spine in spite of herself. _Silver…it can't be him…_

His hand released her cheek to cover her eyes and she turned her head to meet his mouth, gasping in delight when he licked the corner of her lips, then sealed them with a tender kiss. Memories of Sesshomaru's cold eyes and harsh words clashed with this demon's attentive affection and talented tongue, and Kagome whined softly in the back of her throat as her heart pounded and her body burned. Whoever he was, she would enjoy him in this moment and pick up the pieces of her fractured heart later.

Closing her eyes tightly and with an impressive wiggle, she tugged her jacket and blouse over her head and was rewarded by his clawed hand gliding down her neck and chest to cup her breast through her lace bra, massaging it with his palm as he pinched and twisting the nipple between his fingers. Arching her back, she rubbed her ass against his erection and his hand abandoned her breast to lift her skirt, his claws slicing through matching lace panties…

XXX (edited for content)

Breathing harshly as they lay on their sides, joined and satiated, Kagome finally lost the battle with her tears as they seeped from between her tightly closed lids. She wished that she could stay like this forever: wrapped in his embrace with his lips on her neck and phallus embedded in her holiest of holies. However, she couldn't continue to meet him like this, not without knowing who he was. It was taking a toll on her sanity and self-respect; she had found herself doing and thinking things that she would never, in a million years, have thought she would.

The gentle rise and fall of his chest against her back evened out and slowed, and Kagome carefully stretched a hand to the penlight attached to her skirt. He shifted slightly and she immediately stilled, waiting until she was sure that he was still sleeping before she searched with her fingertips for the plastic clip that connected the penlight to her belt loop. As an afterthought, she pulled the knife from her jacket pocket but let it lie in the vines beside her.

Why couldn't she have fallen for a normal guy, or at least one who didn't have identity issues? What did she hope would come of this if he were, indeed, Sesshomaru? More moisture leaked out of her eyes though she strained to repress the sob that was threatening to burst from her chest. The demon behind her rumbled softly, pulling out his now flaccid penis and leaning over her shoulder to lick at the salty tracks on her cheeks left by her tears. Hiccupping softly as she strengthened her will, Kagome rolled onto her back and opened her eyes, shining her meager penlight into his face.

He stared down at her, mild shock and poignant concern gleaming from golden eyes positioned under a noble brow decorated by a blue crescent moon. Magenta stripes slashed across high cheekbones in a face framed by glimmering silver-white hair. A white silk kimono with red floral embroidery at the shoulder hung open to reveal the marble planes of his chest and abs, chiseled, lean, and begging to be stroked. Here was Sesshomaru, as she'd never seen him before, open and vulnerable, and all the more beautiful because of it.

Struck dumb but not particularly surprised, Kagome lay still as her stomach did lazy rolls and her heart thundered in her ears. It was strange to see this creature so close without his claws oozing poison, though there was no guarantee that they wouldn't be in a moment. She wanted to touch the cheek that she now knew had caressed her own, to confirm its silky texture with the tip of her fingers as her eyes traced his stripes, but she was incapable of movement.

For a long moment they locked gazes, and then his golden eyes cooled to amber, hardening, narrowing, his pale lips pursing into a dissatisfied line. He slapped the tiny flashlight out of her hand and lowered his body until he was snarling, harsh and abrasive, in her face, crushing her with his weight and the force of his anger. His youki crackled over her skin, forcing her own spiritual powers to the surface in her defense, but she held them back, unwilling to hurt him. Yes, she'd brought the knife with that very intention, but the idea of hurting Sesshomaru who _might _be her lover was very different than the reality of hurting her lover who _was_ Sesshomaru.

Blinded by the sudden absence of light, Kagome forced her limbs to go limp, flinching only when the points of his fangs pressed into the skin above her pulse. Logically, she knew that he was a dog, more or less, and that dogs went for the throat when establishing dominance…or maybe it was when making a kill? It didn't really matter to Kagome at the moment, for logic had never really played a large part in her body's reaction to stimuli. Spiders of heat crawled from the two pricks against her skin to congregate in her belly, spinning that tangled web of arousal and desire that bound her to him.

The claws of his only hand (and now she knew why her lover had touched her with one hand at a time and it was all her fault) tangled in her hair, dragging roughly on the scalp but not enough to hurt, pulling her head to the side to bare her throat.

"My lord!" she protested a little breathlessly. Sure, it felt good now, but she knew how cruel he could be. Teeth scraped down the skin of her neck, scoring it with fire that his tongue did not soothe. His fangs settled at the dip of her collarbone, where he growled and gave her hair another small tug.

"Sesshomaru, I-"

His menacing snarl silenced everything in the area that wanted to live to see another day. Frightened, but embarrassingly turned on, Kagome squeaked and shut up.

"Impudent, disobedient girl. Did I not tell you that you were not allowed to leave?"

"Hey! That wasn't my fault-"

"And did I not tell you not to look at me?"

'Wait a sec,' Kagome's distracted, flustered brain supplied. 'Aren't you supposed to fight, and _then _have sex? Does that mean we get to do it again after we make up?' Her body sure thought so, what with all the tingling going on in her nether regions. Distantly, it amazed her that she could be so horny and angry at the same time. With a sick little twisting in her gut, she realized that she had, yet again, forgotten to bring condoms. Shit. "Come _on_! I saw you before I left-"

He bit down in the hollow of her collarbone and she shrieked in pain and surprise, a flood of adrenaline jolting her body as her human instincts rushed to the forefront to remind her that the creature with his teeth in her shoulder was a predator and that she might have cause for concern. Just the same, the treasured familiarity of his velvet voice and satin skin waylaid those instincts before she could fight him off, leaving her a trembling, panicky mess. By the time he withdrew his teeth, her eyes had adjusted to the darkness enough to see the rage, frustration, confusion, and an odd distress shining from his eyes through the shadows that obscured his face. She didn't know what to make of it, and apparently, neither did he, for in a swirling of wind and a rustle of silk, he was gone.

Kagome pushed her hair out of her face, heart-broken and incensed, and sat up, scanning the trees for his pale form and coming up frighteningly short.

"Coward! Always running away!" Kagome shouted after him, her voice muffled by the densely growing trees. "Did you think I'd never figure it out? Did you expect me to be happy not knowing who you were?"

Silence met her ranting with a disapproving tenseness, as if no creature wanted to be inadvertently blamed for her reckless words. The tingle of his youki diminished to the barest of caresses and hurt began to consume the anger in her chest. "What do you take me for, an idiot? Well, you're the stupid one!"

She hadn't realized she'd started crying again until a tear splashed on the back of her hand. What was it about this dangerous, domineering, emotionally stunted man – _demon _– that she now knew she couldn't live without?

"Don't leave me!" Kagome pleaded into the darkness. But the last vestiges of his youki were gone; her final entreaty had not been heard.

XxxxxxX

Wandering back to the village in a miserable daze, Kagome didn't even notice Shippo until he bounded into her arms, his jeweled eyes peering into her red, puffy ones as he patted her face with a tiny hand. She couldn't even dredge up a smile, and the effort to do so only made her start crying again.

Shippo's bottom lip trembled as he wrapped is arms around her neck. "Don't cry Kagome," he mumbled against her neck. His nose brushed against a scratch on her neck and she winced, the pain enough to stop the current bought of tears. His little fingers toyed with the collar of her blouse, but she was too despondent to question his quick intake of breath.

"You peeked, didn't you."

It was a statement, but Kagome answered it anyway. "Yeah, and he flew off, or whatever."

"He'll be back," Shippo snuffled quietly and pulled her collar a little higher on her neck.

"Maybe," Kagome muttered, the image of his angry face rising in her mind. They didn't make up and they didn't have sex afterward; she hoped that he hadn't dismissed her as a worthless human and gone looking for another piece of ass. But if he was so angry about her impromptu trip back home, which hadn't been her fault anyway, then why had he curled up next to her while she slept and fucked her when she woke? She just didn't get it. Stupid demon.

Dark laughter oozed around the trees to puddle at their feet and Kagome had the distinct impression that slimy things were crawling on her skin. Moments later, a hunched figure in a white baboon pelt, the simian face covering the wearer's head, stepped out of the shadows and yet seeming to trail them like tail feathers.

"Did your lover fuck and run?" a poisoned voice spoke from behind the mask. "You must not have been very good…not surprising, since you are only a pale copy of your former self."

Holding Shippo tightly to her chest, Kagome scowled, her bruised feelings and injured pride momentarily overriding her fear. "I'm not-"

"Oh, but you are, little miko."

"I know who you are, Naraku! And I know that you play with people's minds, so you can just stop right now!" Kagome snapped with a lot more sharpness than she was feeling at the moment.

"I am but speaking the truth…and I know many truths…" he chuckled as she deflated, her mind making connections faster than she'd ever known possible, leaving her wondering why it took her so damned long to figure out the identity of her lover.

"You wouldn't tell Inuyasha…" Kagome trailed off, knowing that he would, indeed, tell him if he thought it would gain him some advantage, or at the very least, fun.

"That you screwed his despised half-brother behind his back?" Naraku finished her sentence for her with a twisted smile in his voice as Shippo gasped against her chest. "I don't think he would take the news very well."

'And Understatement of the Year goes to…Naraku!' wild, silent applause crowded her head and Kagome recognized the first onset of hysteria. "But I didn't know…"

Naraku laughed again, giving Kagome a violent case of the creeps. "Do you think that will matter to him? He will cut you down or throw you out of the pack and claim those shards for himself," he pointed at her neck with a fur-covered arm.

"He wouldn't…" but Kagome wasn't sure: was his hatred for his brother stronger than his friendship with her? He was brazen, rash, and often did things without thinking them through first, but would he really hurt or abandon her? Hadn't he just done that by taking her shards and pushing her into the well? Could she take the chance that he'd do it again? Staring fixedly at the ground and clinging to Shippo like a lifeline, she whispered, "What do you want?"

"Your shards of the Shikon Jewel, of course, and anything else I may desire in the future." Her head snapped up, her protest already on her lips as he amended his statement. "You may keep one on you, but the rest you will replace with these," he extended his arm and opened his hand to reveal several slivers of pink quartz.

"But-"

"Or, I will break the news to our dear Inuyasha that his sweet little miko is actually his brother's whore."

Kagome stood in silent, hopeless contemplation, wondering how on earth her life had come down to being blackmailed by their arch-nemesis to hide her lover (who just so happened to be _another_ nemesis) from their group's leader. And he wanted her shards, no less! Each fragment represented her grand failure as the jewel's protector, imbued with their blood and sweat, as they painstakingly fought for and gathered them. Now, she had to give them up to prevent her secret from becoming public scandal.

"Like, what else?" Kagome asked quietly.

Naraku chuckled, a wicked, ugly sound that set her teeth on edge. "Oh, you needn't worry about _that_, priestess, though you are hardly worthy to bear the title. I would not touch something as despoiled as you."

Somehow, that statement didn't do much to make her feel better. Shoulders slumping, Kagome stared at the ground and said nothing. Where were her integrity, fiery spirit and bold words? Extinguished by lies and subterfuge, that's where. Ashamed of herself and her actions, she scuffed the toe of her shoe in the dirt and realized that she really didn't like herself at the moment but didn't know what to do about it.

Kagome was never one who could be accused of making good decisions. In fact, during her short years on earth, she had made several spectacularly bad ones, and they mobbed and jostled through her brain as she tried to figure out to do. Oh, she knew what she _should _do, but really, what should she _do_?

She had been dragged down a well by a centipede demon and after finally returning home (and in the middle of a delicious dinner), she had gone back down that same well to face more demons, all in the name of honor and to compensate for another bad decision she had made. Instead of guarding the jewel carefully as she'd been told, she had let a carrion crow run off with it, the end result being that the arrow she'd used to take it down shattered the jewel she'd been assigned to protect. She had known that the shard she'd tied to the bird's leg would draw it towards the jewel; it had been the crux of her plan! However, it had not occurred to her that the arrow would've broken it. To hear Inuyasha tell it, she'd done it on purpose with malice and forethought. And now she was faced with the consequences of her decision to continue her tawdry, exciting little affair, which had seemed like such a good idea at the time! Well, she actually hadn't thought about the _wisdom_ of her actions, per se; she had let herself get swept away and the two most burning questions on her mind had been who he was and when was he going to come again.

The fact of the matter was that Kagome let her heart lead her and didn't really stop to consider the consequences until they were yelling at her, smacking her around, trying to kill her, or blackmailing her for jewel shards. And her heart did not want to give up on the lover for whom she had just acquired a face.

Should she give up the shards and buy herself a little time? Should she bite the bullet and tell Inuyasha before Naraku had a chance, taking whatever punishment he saw fit to give? Of course, she could always sit him…not that that would improve things any. It would also mean the end of her affair with Sesshomaru (assuming that he would come back to her like Shippo said), which was absolutely out of the question. Come what may, he had become as necessary to her as water or air or face moisturizer. It didn't look like she had much choice in the matter, and Naraku seemed to know that by the air of smugness that he exuded.

"Before I loose my patience, miko."

Kagome sighed heavily and pulled the jewel shards out of her shirt, ignoring the trembling kit in her arms and his noisy snuffles. Unstopping the small vial, she shook all but one shard into his waiting hand, pinching the quartz out of his palm so that she had the least amount of skin-to-skin contact as possible. Trade finished, Naraku vanished into the forest, leaving a noxious stench and a melancholy, self-recriminating girl in his wake.

"You gave him our shards," Shippo remarked incredulously as if waiting for her to dispute it.

"What else could I do? You heard him: he was going to tell Inuyasha!" Kagome implored him to understand even though she, herself, could hardly believe what she'd done. What she _would_ do, when he came to her again.

Shippo leaned away from her neck and stared up at her with wide, frightened eyes. "You've been meeting _Sesshomaru_ this whole time?"

Kagome nodded.

"You mean, Sesshomaru with the-" he slashed the air with tiny claws, doing an impression of the demon lord that would have been funny in any other circumstance. "And the-" he snapped an imaginary energy whip from his fingertips.

Kagome nodded again and bit her bottom lip.

"Inuyasha's half-brother, _Sesshomaru_?"

"Uh huh."

"Jeez, Kagome, you sure know how to pick 'em."

"Thanks, Shippo."

If she could just hold out until she saw Sesshomaru again or figured a way out of this mess, then maybe she could escape with a modicum of dignity intact (and hopefully a few of the shards). Naraku had said that he didn't want _that_, though kami knew that she had the market cornered on having sex with faceless demons, so at least she wasn't going to be passed around like last night's leftovers. However, the idea of having to deliver the jewel shards to their enemy left a bitter, vile taste in her mouth and her stomach roiling and queasy.

She didn't even understand why Sesshomaru had gotten so angry. It had to be more than her willfulness (she didn't like to think of it as disobedience because that implied that he had the right to tell her what to do, which he didn't!) or her tendency to mouth off. She'd done both before, and he'd always seduced her afterwards. She could only hope that what Shippo said was true, but was too depressed to ask why he thought so. He had acted like he'd _cared_ for her, then left her without so much as a goodbye!

Perhaps he wanted to reveal himself in his own way or he was biding his time for something in particular? Did he think that she wouldn't be able to handle the truth? Was he ashamed to have a human lover and didn't want her telling people about his indiscretions? As if she could tell anyone who wouldn't blackmail her or try to maim her! And he had to have guessed that she would recognize his voice during the battle at the inn. Was it a test of her loyalty to him to not peek even though she suspected his identity?

'I guess that means I failed…like everything else,' Kagome turned the possibilities over in her mind and filed them away with all of the other unknowns about her lord. Face or no face, he was still as much of a mystery as ever and it seemed that her pre-conceived notions about Sesshomaru were wrong, as well.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Thanks for reading, everyone, and lots of love to dsm1980 and thymecat who beta read this chapter. I've had a few more correct guesses of the story that this fic was inspired by: KawaiiGirl, Ashley, Techie, Krystal, forthright (pretty much). Gold stars for you!

Disclaimer: I do not own any character created by Rumiko Takahashi.

Chapter 8

'Would you really have gone to hell with Kikyou?' Kagome wondered as she watched Inuyasha walk at the head of the group, back straight and silver ears twitching. His mane of silvery hair, only a few shades darker than the hair that filled her dreams, sent pangs of wistful longing through her chest. As horrific as going to hell should seem, she couldn't help but feel a little jealous; after all, his lover was willing to spend an eternity with him, even if it was in torment, whereas hers…well, she just didn't know what to think.

She hadn't seen or felt his youki since their altercation, if that's what you call being yelled at then walked out on without being able to finish a damn sentence. Hurt and alternately irritated and disappointed by his absence, she'd spent the last several days rehashing their argument and wondering if there was anything that she could have done differently. She supposed that she could have asked to see him before shining a flashlight in his face, but if he had denied her, then she would still have had to force the issue. This line of thinking always brought her back to the question of why he was hiding himself in the first place, for he seemed most angry about her brief glimpse of his face than anything else. After all, he hadn't chewed her out for her sojourn into the future until after she had peeked: he'd been more than willing to let that slide in favor of a quickie. Could he want her as much as she wanted him? She desperately wanted to believe so. Unfortunately, the signs pointed to him being the kind of person to hold a grudge and it wasn't something she was going to bring up with Inuyasha.

The pages on which she'd been organizing her thoughts of her lover (and now that she thought back to that list, she couldn't believe how dense she'd been) had been safely shredded in her high school's document disposal room. Good thing, too, because she'd caught Inuyasha rooting around in her backpack the other day, and since he'd already had his daily allotment of ramen, he could only be after one other thing. He hadn't said anything since the battle, but Kagome was no fool…well, maybe she was a fool, but she wasn't an idiot…actually, she felt pretty stupid. Never mind.

Amazingly enough, for it was such an obvious thing to her that she jumped whenever someone mentioned the Shikon no Tama, no one had noticed that not all of the several shards around her neck were actually real. Even Kikyou had been too wrapped up in bewitching Inuyasha and dragging him to the underworld to comment on her little deception. At least they'd been able to add a few true shards to her collection since her meeting with Naraku, though she doubted she'd be able to keep them for long.

A misstep on the steep little path leading away from the massacred village threw her off balance and she caught herself on the gnarled trunk of a tree. The muscles in her arms screamed in protest, reminding her (as if she needed reminding) that she had just help bury a village full of corpses. Unable to help the groan that escaped her lips, Kagome gratefully accepted the hand on her elbow as the monk helped steady her. Before the hand could travel elsewhere, she shrugged out of his grasp and grinned at him, rolling her sore shoulders.

"I guess I may have overdone it," she said a little sheepishly, blushing slightly when the monk's eyes strayed to the fabric that strained against her breasts as she stretched.

He shrugged, dragging his eyes back up to her face though his fingers twitched. "Anyone would be tired after a day of such draining labor."

"Hey! Are you two finished? 'Cause I, for one, have a score to settle with Naraku!" Inuyasha griped from the front of the line, fixing the humans with an irritated scowl as he gripped the hilt of his sword.

Kagome startled guiltily at the sound of the demon's name and almost missed Miroku's curious glance. The monk knew more than he let on, she was sure of it; he hadn't said anything blatant, but she'd caught him watching her with a strange light in his eyes, and not just her ass. Though he stared at that a lot, too. Through innuendo and hints, he sidled around her affair just enough to let her know that he was willing and able to supply what she might not be getting elsewhere. Or, maybe she was just paranoid: he hadn't asked for anything in return for keeping her secrets, so he could just be a pervert who was looking to get laid.

"Inuyasha's such a jerk," Shippo grumbled from her shoulder and Kagome nodded as she started walking again, studying the hanyou's handsome, annoyed face before he turned around. If he weren't so committed to his ex-lover and she weren't so smitten by her own lover, then she thought she could have fallen for the gruff, overprotective male. He could be quite dashing and exciting when he wanted to be, not to mention he had a great body. Too bad he wore those loose, baggy pants so she couldn't watch his butt as he walked. She was quite positive that it would be just as hard and muscular as the rest of his body.

The hanyou in question slung an odd look at her over his shoulder and she choked, realizing where her mind had wandered. 'What am I thinking? My lord…Sesshomaru…would be so pissed if he knew that I was thinking about his brother's butt! If he even cares anymore. I hope he cares.'

This last thought sent her mood plummeting into her shoes and left her with a heavy, cold lump at the pit of her stomach. What she really wanted to do was to see _Sesshomaru's_ ass: not just see it but squeeze it, smack it, maybe bite it a little. It didn't help that the demon was doing things to her in her dreams that left her hopelessly frustrated and unsatisfied when she woke. And now that she had a face and body to fill in the gaps, those dreams were sharp, detailed, and pulsing with vitality: what Dorothy must have felt when she'd stepped from her black-and-white house into the full color of the Land of Oz.

Sometimes, he even had two arms and what he did with those hands…Oh! Kagome couldn't help a little shiver and squeezed her legs together for a moment to help relieve the ache between them. Yes, if they were ever able to patch things up and have a real relationship, then replacing that arm was one of the first items on her agenda, right after a straight twenty-four hours of hot, sweaty, dirty sex. Then, they could take that arm for a test drive!

Shippo poked her right behind her ear with his claw and Kagome sighed, recognizing his signal for: 'you smell like a bitch in heat'. Her mischievous little kit had never said anything like that, of course, but the meaning was clear, especially considering the type of demon who instigated this response and the type of demon that was often mortified and alarmed (when he wasn't juiced up on instinct and pheromones) to be on the receiving side of the after-effects.

She heard the distinct sound of sniffing and frantically tried to smother her libido when something huge and flat crashed through forest and almost decapitated Inuyasha, who pushed her head down out of danger. Whirling back the way it had come, it was caught by a glaring Amazon in a sleek black bodysuit. Dark ponytail flying in the breeze, eyes snapping with righteous anger, the woman declared her revenge against Inuyasha and launched another attack.

"That's Sango, the demon slayer! You mustn't attack her!" Myoga, a lily-livered flea demon and Inuyasha's vassal, piped into the hanyou's ear.

'Revenge? What on earth does she think he did?' Kagome thought as Inuyasha flung back the demon slayer's giant bone boomerang. Feeling useless since she didn't have her bow with her, not that she was very good with it anyway, Kagome stepped away from the fray and froze when a familiar, muculent voice oozed into her ears.

"I will take the rest of your shards, today."

Trembling with fear and anger, Kagome tried not to betray to anyone the fact that Naraku was lurking somewhere behind her.

"If you do not resist, your secret will remain safe. If you do resist…" he chuckled malignantly, "I will inform Inuyasha of your indiscretions and _then_ take your shards."

Kagome railed silently against the demon and his demands, calling up every vile word she'd learned from Inuyasha and applying it to his person, his parents, and his masculinity until she was dragged out of her thoughts by a cloud of bulbous winged insects swarming toward them, revealing a fur-covered figure sporting a baboon mask, grinning at them all. 'How did Naraku get there so fast?'

"Miroku, look out! They're Naraku's insects! You'll be poisoned if you suck them in!" she shouted at the monk who stood, cursed hand outstretched and wind tunnel uncovered, trying to pull the boomerang into the void. He snatched his hand back and wrapped it in his prayer beads, a frustrated grimace stretching his mouth.

Inuyasha launched himself at the fur-covered demon but was blocked by the woman's giant boomerang, then thrown to the ground by a chain wrapped around his ankle. Despite several wounds on her back that were bleeding profusely, the warrior woman fought as one possessed. A twinge of jealousy poked at her chest as she watched the demon slayer move: so graceful, strong, self-confident, and hardly much older than herself!

'I bet Miroku is getting an eyeful,' she thought spitefully as the woman pirouetted, her uniform clinging to her lean curves like a second skin, and swung the enormous boomerang at Inuyasha, then gasped as the telltale glow of a shard shining from her back. 'She _is_ possessed!'

Suddenly, and seemingly from nowhere, a disembodied hand streaked toward her, heading straight for her chest, and Kagome screamed like, well, a little girl. After so much time spent in Miroku's company, her first instinct was to cover her breasts with her arms to avoid the immanent groping, but the hand hit her just below her collarbone, fingers scrabbling for the vial that depended from the chain about her neck. Squealing, she batted at it, but the hand grabbed the little bottle and yanked it from the chain. Incensed, Kagome was about to chase after it when she caught another glance of Naraku.

_I will take the rest of your shards, today._

Even though the baboon mask hid his face, she knew he was watching her, waiting for her to make a wrong move. Oh. So he meant to steal them in front of her friends, showing them how worthless she was. Great.

She didn't have to try very hard to trip over her own feet, thus giving the hand the exit it needed to abscond with her shards…and her way back home…Sesshomaru had better be worth all this…

Sure enough, the arm flew straight back to Naraku, reattaching itself to his shoulder, and she could swear that he smirked at her. She glared back.

As an acrid, burning stench assailed her nose, her attention was drawn to Inuyasha and Sango, surrounded by a gaseous, green cloud. Showing her typical use of good judgment, Kagome abandoned her staring match with Naraku to run directly at Inuyasha and into the cloud, just as Sango collapsed from her injuries. Kagome had time to wonder, 'Why on earth did I run into poison!' before her lungs seized up and her brain shut down.

XxxxxxxxX

"I can't fucking _believe_ you lost those shards to Naraku. What'd you do, _let _him take 'em?" Inuyasha shouted into Kagome's face, intensifying the throbbing beneath her temples that had been present since Naraku had taken the shards. It didn't help that the hanyou had felt the need to bring it up every hour or so for the last several days.

"Calm yourself, Inuyasha. You know that Kagome would never do something like that," ever the pacifist (when he wasn't making his own brand of trouble), Miroku raised his hands in a peaceful gesture.

Inuyasha would have none of it. "Well I sure didn't see her put up much of a fight!" Inuyasha snapped at the monk and pointed at Kagome accusingly.

Kagome just clutched her head and tried to become invisible. Patting her calf in a reassuring sort of way, Shippo let her know that he supported her, only making the teen feel more like the scum that one picked out of the tread of farming boots. Worse even: she was the sludge one snaked out of a clogged kitchen drain. The fermented muck that had collected all day in those outhouses they had at that the fair!

"You're a useless, weak, pathetic-"

"Osuwari!" That didn't mean she wanted to hear it from the hanyou, however. Unfortunately, the subduing command didn't even silence his tirade, only muffled it with dirt. Ashamed of herself and knowing that every angry word that the hanyou said was true, she jumped from her seat and ran into the woods. Sprinting as fast as she could, embracing the cramps in her legs and burning in her lungs, she ran until her foot was snagged by a hidden hole in the ground and hit the dirt at full tilt. Elbows and knees torn and bloodied and her uniform hopelessly soiled, she lay on the ground and sobbed, curling into a comforting fetal position as she buried her face in her hands.

How had she become such a horrible person? It had all started out so innocently…well, not _innocently_, as such, but it had been a way to reaffirm her life in a near-death situation. Then, he had kept coming, but it was only a bit of fun and romance! No harm done, right? Now she was the kind of girl she would never have associated with – even Yuka's promiscuous mouth had nothing on her behavior lately. At least Yuka didn't lie about what she did! If anything, she was a little _too_ detailed…but that was beside the point. Kagome couldn't remember interacting with a human being more despicable than herself. Inuyasha was right with every demeaning word he said, but did she confess? No, she punished him and accepted Shippo's support!

Despicable, disgusting, tramp, that's what she was, because she'd continue to lie if it meant that she might get to see her lover again…Sesshomaru…

Gods, but she missed him! It was as if he had taken a piece of her soul when he'd disappeared that night, a much larger chunk than the one that resided in Kikyou's clay body. Worse was the fact that she didn't want it back; she wanted _him_, and the longer they were apart, the more she yearned for him. It had surpassed a spiritual ache and had grown into a physical pain, like a sliver under her skin that swelled and festered. But she didn't try to lance it or remove the splinter of silver; she coddled it, cherished it, promised it relief in her dreams, all the while knowing that something about it wasn't quite right…wasn't quite _normal_…or as normal as any part of a relationship with a demon could be.

Or maybe it was normal? What did she know about demon culture anyway, except that they didn't like hanyou? Perhaps Sango would know…?

A faint brush against her senses, a prickling of the hair on the back of her neck alerted her to the presence of a demon in the vicinity and she wiped her face with the back of her hand and sat up, adding to her list of stupid decisions: running into the forest alone with no weapon. When the tingle spread through her chest and into her belly, she simultaneously relaxed and tensed, breaking out into a light sweat, the strange winding up of her body wrenching a moan from the depths of her soul.

As quietly as it crept into her mind, the youki faded away, leaving her trembling and damp, and not just her skin. His very proximity was affecting her libido, and she would have to change her panties before bed. Tears began to flow again, slower this time but still bitterly mournful. Did he know what he did to her? Was he teasing or testing her? What was his problem, anyway? Why couldn't he just show himself, even yell at her again so that they could make up afterwards? As frustrated and bewildered as she was, not to mention her heart screaming in loss, a glimmer of hope blossomed in her chest that he had not dismissed her, that maybe he still wanted her and would come back to her.

Hiccupping mid-sob, an interesting idea occurred to her, 'Maybe Naraku is blackmailing him, too?'

XxxxxxxxX

Sango's eyes lingered on the bite on her collarbone and then darted away to fix on the steamy water of the hot spring. She had done that several times now and Kagome was wondering if maybe bathing with the demon slayer wasn't the best idea she'd had. She'd only wanted to get cleaned up and perhaps pump the older woman for information on demons, but apparently her keen gaze and sharp mind were taking in more than Kagome preferred to reveal. Why she would show interest in that wound in particular confounded her, though now that she thought about it…Shippo had taken a look at it, too. 'Oh well, nothing to do about it now. Trying to cover it up would only draw attention to it.'

"Ah! This is wonderful," Kagome sighed happily and slipped a little further under the surface of the water so that the bite was submerged.

"We love bath time! Right Kagome?" Shippo chimed as he floated past in a plastic ring that Kagome had brought back from the future.

Laughing a little nervously, Kagome hoped that the slight blush now staining her cheeks could be attributed to the hot water. "You bet, Shippo."

"It is nice," Sango murmured quietly. She was so sad and brave that Kagome's heart ached for her. Remembering the slayer's tragic story, loosing her family and village in one day, helped put Kagome's own troubles into perspective. Well, not really, but she liked to think it did.

"Are you feeling any better?" she asked, then wanted to smack herself. 'Stupid! Would a couple of days and a bath make _you_ feel any better if you had just lost all of your loved ones in one stoke?'

Sango didn't answer; instead, she drew circles in the water with the tips of her fingers. Ashamed of herself, Kagome looked everywhere but at her.

"Kagome," the slayer said suddenly, and Kagome startled, loosing purchase on the boulder that served as her seat and sliding under the surface of the water. Sputtering and wiping wet hair from her eyes, Kagome came back up and stared at the woman apprehensively.

"Uh, yeah?"

"That bite…" Sango gestured to the tooth marks on her collarbone.

'Oh no! I knew it!' Kagome laughed airily and waved a hand, "This? It's nothing! I get bit up all the time! You should see this scar I have on my waist-"

"When did you get it?"

"The scar? When I first came through the well. See, there was this-"

"No, the bite on your shoulder."

"Oh, um. I don't really remember."

"Hmmm," the demon slayer's eyes glazed slightly as she stared at the wound and pulled a finger out of the water to tap her chin. Kagome thought she was off the hook until she spoke again, "That _is_ strange."

Not sure if she wanted to know but unable to help herself, Kagome asked hesitantly, "Strange?"

"Yes, you see it looks remarkably like a scent-mark left by a demon on the female he has claimed." Dark and guarded, Sango's eyes bored into Kagome's until the teen squirmed uncomfortably and dropped her gaze.

"Um…I think I would remember something like that…" Kagome's mind whirled with possibilities and unknown terms. 'Scent-mark? Claimed? What did it all mean?

"You would, believe me. I hear it hurts." An uncomfortable silence stretched between the two women, broken only by the Shippo's soft splashes as he paddled around the spring.

"So…what is your relationship with Inuyasha?" Sango's piercing stare was back, but this time, Kagome was able to answer easily.

"What relationship? He's still hung up on his clay girlfriend," Kagome groused, hoping a little misdirection would do the trick. 'Let her believe that I like Inuyasha: maybe she'll think we fooled around a little and I don't want to talk about it.'

The demon slayer shrugged noncommittally, wincing a little as the skin pulled at the scar on her back. "You really should be more careful not to get bit; some demons inject venom into their bite."

Kagome shuddered delicately and wrinkled her nose. "Don't I know it. Miroku always manages to get all poisoned up whenever we meet Naraku's insects."

"He's somewhat of a pervert, isn't he," Sango stated, her voice edged and annoyed.

"Yeah, but he's not all bad," Kagome assured her. 'Especially now that there's another female rear in the group!' "He can be quite charming and wise when he wants to be."

Unconvinced, Sango rolled her eyes and ducked under the water to rinse her hair, leaving Kagome for a brief moment to think unobserved. However, her thoughts refused to connect themselves into any meaningful pattern, so she huffed and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Shippo, we need to have a talk later!"

A/N: Thank you, my reviewers!


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Thanks for your patience, everyone! This chapter underwent a major rewrite – hence the lateness. It is better for it, believe me, and I have thymecat to thank for the fabulous brainstorming session that got this chapter to where it is. Thanks also to dsm1980 who is also beta reading for me!

Plus, I'm way behind in answering reviews, so I'm going to do one big THANK YOU to all of you on FFnet, Single Spark, MMorg, and AFFnet who have taken the time to send me a note! I read and appreciate every single one of them! You brighten my days and my inbox (or review pages).

Warning: it's a bit lemony in the beginning and I didn't edit it. You have been warned.

Disclaimer: I do not own any character created by Rumiko Takahashi.

Chapter 9

The light was muted, warm, a buttery color that flickered at the edges of her vision. She lay on pillowed softness that was smooth to her bare skin and supported her body but accommodated her as she shifted to roll onto her side and smile at the man next to her. Golden eyes glittered back, reflecting the oranges and yellows of the light around them; pale lips curved slightly and lent to the normally blank face a gentle serenity. Her breath caught in her throat and her chest tightened sweetly, blood rushing amazingly fast as he whispered something low and throaty into her ear, and then nibbled the lobe.

She giggled, wrapping her arms around his neck and curling her fingers in his silky silver hair as he nipped down her throat and across her collarbone to lap at the small wound that straddled the bone. The rough caress of his tongue over the punctures sent a frisson of delight through her limbs and an anticipatory burn at the apex of her thighs. Chuckling, a rich sound that rumbled through his chest like distant spring thunder, he grazed a path down her back to her buttocks with his claws, squeezing the pert flesh before traveling down her thighs. Already flushed and moaning, she dug her fingers into his scalp, arching her back to push her body against his, and slid a knee across one of his long legs to wrap around his waist.

He growled softly, rolling them over and holding himself above her to gaze down at her, eyes darkened with lust and need, the stripes and crescent moon markings vivid and bright against his pale skin.

"Sesshomaru," she whispered his name, dragging her blunt nails over the muscles in his chest and abdomen, grinning when his stomach jumped and quivered under her fingertips. His erection was pressed between them, hard and heavy against her belly, the tip already moist and pushing through the foreskin. He flashed his fangs teasingly at her before applying those pearly points to her budded nipple hard enough to make her gasp his name again.

And then he was kissing her, ravaging her mouth with his lips and tongue, swallowing her breathy moans as he nudged her legs open with his knees, his hand massaging the breast that was still sore from his fangs' ministrations. His long tongue pushed into her as far as it could reach, tasting her thoroughly as the head of his shaft prodded through the gate to her body. Tilting her hips to help guide him, she broke the kiss and cried out as his thick phallus _stretched_-

Kagome snapped awake to tiny feet pounding into her side. Sweating heavily and breathing hard, she hissed to the kit, "Shippo, stop! I'm awake!"

"Kagome, are you okay?" Sango blinked sleepily at her from the other side of the campfire, her hand already clutching the hilt of her sword.

Ignoring the kit's irritated grumbling, she rolled onto her side as Shippo poked and prodded her to a more comfortable position. Kagome took several deep breaths as she willed her blood to start circulating instead of just puddling in her crotch. Making a quick scan of the campsite, the teen noted a distinct lack of hanyou lurking in the trees above. Relieved that a keen doggy nose wouldn't sniff her out, Kagome smiled shakily at the slayer. "Yeah! I'm fine! Shippo, um, just had a bad dream."

"That must have been quite the dream," Miroku remarked with that penetrating look in his eyes that he so often cast her way.

Sango, however, had a sympathetic frown on her face. "Poor little guy. It must have been about our fight with Naraku."

Shippo snorted quietly under the covers and Kagome tried not to grin, "Probably."

Nodding sagely, Sango lay back down in her bedroll and sighed. "Don't worry, Shippo, we won't let anything hurt you."

'If she only knew that a demon was in _my _dreams and what he was actually doing to me…' Kagome thought with a despondent longing for the unfinished dream, curling up in her sleeping bag and cuddling Shippo to her chest. She knew she was in for a teasing later, but she thanked the kami for her little accomplice.

Her hand crept its way to the fading bite on her collarbone, rubbing the scar and letting the friction on the sensitive skin sooth her. Shippo had confirmed that it was, in fact, a scent-mark left to warn off other males and his confidence that Sesshomaru would come back for her remained firm even though the scar was fading and the youkai himself had failed to make an appearance. Kagome had felt him nearby several times but had not been able to catch a glimpse of him. His inattention hurt her deeply and she could only hope that forces beyond his control were keeping him from coming to her, not a stupid grudge.

She was actually somewhat surprised that she'd been dreaming about Sesshomaru instead of Naraku, especially considering their last few run-ins with the bastard. Why he hadn't yet come to torment her in her dreams as he did when she was awake was beyond her. She had dared to hope that the damage she'd done to him earlier could get him off her back. How could she have been so stupid as to try to kill him? She never hit her marks, she should've known better than to even try! But she'd had to do something…

Naraku had wanted something other than jewel shards that day: he'd wanted Tetsusaiga, Inuyasha's sword! He'd manipulated Sango into taking it by resurrecting her brother and keeping him alive with a shard in his back. Torn apart by the sight of her brother wiped clean of his memories and in the hands of the enemy, Sango stole the sword and brought it to Naraku, demanding her brother in return.

Panicky and confused, Kagome had simply gone along with the rest of the group in an effort to retrieve the sword. Naraku had given her no instructions! What did he want from her? What did he expect? It had been driving her insane! So really, she couldn't be held accountable for her actions at the castle when they finally met up with their enemy. The battle had raged around her and Inuyasha regained his sword, but Kagome had been appalled at what Naraku had done to Sango and Kohaku, her brother. As if bewitching the boy to kill his own family hadn't been bad enough, he'd enslaved him to use against his own sister!

Kagome had snapped and shot her arrow without a second thought, pushing into it all of her rage, pain, and sorrow so that it glowed with a brilliant pink corona. It had hit his body and dissolved it in a flash of purification but much to her dismay, his head had survived to throw her a furious glare before it made its escape in a great gushing of gasses.

She'd hoped that he had just burrowed into a hole somewhere and died, because he hadn't immediately tattled on her, but the sneaky bastard had found a way to rebuild his body! Some days later, they had come across a cave (and oh, had Kagome's imagination run wild!) in which great, bestial demons battled each other, the winner absorbing the loser and gaining their power. Inuyasha had jumped into the fight, despite Kikyou's warnings about being absorbed himself. The priestess had fired an arrow that broke up the fight but also seemed to trigger the regeneration of Naraku's body.

Kagome couldn't remember ever seeing something so horrible and grotesque: those red eyes searing her from a human head and a body of lesser-demon pieces. This was the creature that held her secret in his hands…

As their eyes met, a voice sounded in her head, blurred and broken as if many people were speaking at once: _"I will give you one chance to redeem yourself. I will send someone for your shards…if you resist in any way, I will end this little farce." _Then, he'd grabbed Kikyou and flown off. No grand revelations to Inuyasha (who had shouted Kikyou's name as she disappeared in the demon's arms), no humiliations for herself. Well, no more so than usual.

Did she dare believe that he only wanted more shards? Was he giving her a false hope before he broke their deal and spilled everything to Inuyasha? Would he even let her live after taking their piece of the jewel? Kagome had a plethora of questions, no answers, and few options left open.

Flesh striking flesh made her jump, her arm spasmodically tightening around the kit as her heart bounced around the inside of her ribcage.

"Keep your hands to yourself, pervert," Sango rapped out as she yanked her bedding off the ground and stalked to the side of the campfire exactly opposite a sheepishly grinning monk. Rubbing his cheek with his unbound hand, he leaned his back against the tree and winked conspiratorially at Kagome.

Rolling her eyes, the teen snuggled back into her bedding. 'You have _got_ to be kidding me. Sango packs a punch; he should've learned by now.' Stifling a giggle as she listened to Sango's muttered cursing, she closed her eyes and tried to recapture a wisp of her dream.

XxxxxxxxX

Kagome pressed a hand to her lower back, grimacing as she stretched the bunched, aching muscles. With a small sigh, she dropped her hand and flopped down on the rough, wooden stoop, mopping at her brow with a small hand towel from her bag as she stared out over the neatly planted field of herbs. Jinengi's hulking figure was still bent awkwardly over the tender shoots, his sausage fingers plucking weeds with precise, gentle care.

The epitome of the gentle giant, the hanyou Jinengi had a long, equine face and bulbous, yellow eyes that shone with an innate kindness and a quiet despondency. She couldn't understand how the locals could believe that he was the youkai who had been killing and eating humans.

"He ain't much to look at, but he's mine," Jinengi's mother spoke behind her in a voice dry with years. Her proud, wrinkled smile belied her words as she handed Kagome a bamboo cup filled with cool well water.

"Uh…thanks," she said, accepting the water gratefully and taking a long drink. She was right: he wasn't good looking (few people could wear orange fur) but that wasn't what really mattered, was it? To have weathered the curses and abuse of the villagers and still remain a peaceful creature took a steadfastness of character that one rarely encountered. Jinengi glanced up at her as if feeling her eyes on his back, then quickly looked back down at the soil underneath his fingers. Smiling softly, Kagome answered his mother, "He has a kind soul."

The crone nodded as she seated herself next to Kagome, her bones cracking and popping in the symphony of old age. "That he does. Some would say that he has no soul because of his demon father, but I know better."

Nodding, the teen leaned back on her forearms and enjoyed the caress of the breeze on her flushed skin as it ran its fingers through her hair. There really wasn't anything better than resting in the shade after a few hours of weeding.

"So, you and your hanyou…" the old woman nudged Kagome in the side with a bony finger and the teen's elbows almost gave out.

"What?"

"I see that mark, girl, even though you try to hide it. Do you think I was born yesterday?"

"Oh…" Kagome rubbed the tiny scars on her collarbone and tried to fight the color that was forcing its way up her neck and into her face. "Um…it isn't his…"

The old woman chuckled and Kagome was forcibly reminded of Miroku. Suddenly, a rest in the shade was not quite so relaxing. She was about to excuse herself and rejoin Jinengi when his mother made another comment. "So you've got another demon beau. Don't be shy, girl. I know how much fun they can be." She issued another raspy laugh and gave Kagome a broad wink.

'Ew. Please don't let her elaborate.'

"Jinengi's father was quite the lover. Oh, the things he would do to me…" Her dark eyes glittered like obsidian as she leered at Kagome, who tried to draw her head between her shoulders like a turtle. 'Ew ew ew ew'

"But if you're marked by a demon, why do you travel with the half-demon? Surely you haven't denied his suit?"

"Well, Inuyasha and I have a quest…wait, his what?"

"His suit, girl! He put his mark on you to show his interest and keep other demons away. He must be a predator youkai to leave a bite like that. Now, Jinengi's father would give me crowns of flowers from his garden while he was courting me…" her eyes lost focus as she gazed inward at her memories.

'Flowers would be nice,' Kagome thought wistfully, 'and less painful.' "I don't know if he really wants me. Maybe the whole mark thing was an accident. He hasn't come back to me since he did it."

"Eh?" The crone shook herself and fixed Kagome with a keen eye. "Accident? Could be. Have you accepted his suit?" she asked again.

"How would I do that?" 'And how is it that I'm confiding in this woman who I've only just met?'

Jinengi's mother looked at her as if the teen were going a little soft in the skull, which Kagome found frightfully unfair. "Give him something in return, girl! If he accepts it, then you know it was no accident."

'Give him something? How was I supposed to know that?' Kagome wondered irritably. 'Sango and Shippo didn't say anything about a gift exchange. He better not have abandoned me because he was waiting for a present.' Out loud, she asked, "Like what?"

She shrugged, the joints in her shoulders popping like gunfire. "That's up to you, but it should be something of yourself that only you can give."

"What did you give Jinengi's father?" Kagome couldn't help but ask.

Exploding in raucous cackles, the old woman clambered to her feet. "Wouldn't you like to know!"

'Maybe I wouldn't,' Kagome decided as she watched the old woman totter into the hut. Sighing, Kagome rested her head in her hands and pursed her lips, staring forlornly at the boards of the stoop. 'What do I have to give that is of any value? Naraku has most of my shards. Sesshomaru hasn't shown much interest in them, anyway.' She wracked her brain, but nothing useful was forthcoming. With a final sigh and a frustrated scuff of her shoe in the dirt, she gave up and joined Jinengi and his herb garden.

XxxxxxxX

Frozen in place, Kagome stared at the tip of the arrow that was aimed at her and wondered why she'd never noticed how wicked sharp those things were. They were designed to slice through flesh as easily as they flew through air, and she had always carelessly tossed them in her quiver like a bouquet of daisies. 'She wouldn't really hurt me, would she?'

Kagome's silent question was answered as the string of the bow twanged, loud in the twilight forest, and Kikyou's eyes glittered with smug satisfaction. A searing heat grazed her cheek and her hand flew up to touch it as the ground dropped out from under her feet. She shrieked, her cheek forgotten as she frantically grabbed for the vines that hung from the wall of the pit that had replaced once solid earth. Her hands snagged a vine and she clung to it, crying out as her shoulders were wrenched painfully and a fingernail was bent backward.

'I will never wish for the ground to open up and swallow me ever, ever again,' Kagome promised herself as her body bumped against the earthen wall of the pit, knocking loose dirt and debris that tumbled into the darkness below her. 'She's trying to kill me! How deep is this thing?'

She snuck a quick glance over her shoulder, which did her absolutely no good. Shadows crowded the depths of the hole, roiling beneath the soles of her shoes. Squeezing her eyes shut, Kagome tightened her grasp on the roots and whispered a silent prayer to the kami. 'I hope I put on a good pair of underwear this morning. I don't want my friends to find my body wearing that torn pair with the frayed waistband.'

Kikyou's head appeared over the bit, a bitter smile curving her lips and destroying the façade of the tragic priestess. "Naraku sends his regards," Kikyou said politely, her tone sarcastically derisive. "But he has tired of your little game."

Something cold and clammy wrapped around her wrists and ankles, slithering up her legs and supporting her weight as they dragged her out of the pit, the roots sliding out of her hands and leaving painful friction burns. Shuddering in disgust at the touch of Kikyou's soul collectors, Kagome had to wonder if her situation had improved when she met the malicious eyes of the undead priestess.

"You should not have tried to kill him, foolish girl. No one truly escapes his grasp. I am living," the smile twisted into a self-mocking sneer, "proof." She briefly touched her chest where a fragment of the Shikon jewel glimmered darkly, then reached for the large shard around Kagome's neck and yanked the jewel free with a metallic snap. The soul collectors unwound themselves as roots twisted out of the pit to curl around her ankles.

"No, Kikyou! Don't do this!" The roots began to pull her back into the pit when Inuyasha burst through the trees. He glanced from the grinning priestess standing on the lip of the pit to the girl being dragged into it, and then leapt toward Kagome. An arrow arched across his path and he twisted mid-leap to land heavily still several feet from the pit and Kagome's disappearing form.

"Kikyou! What are you doing?" he shouted, facing the priestess, his eyes finding the Shikon no Tama hanging from a chain wrapped around the hand that held her bow. "That's Kagome's shard!"

Kikyou nocked another arrow and aimed leisurely at the hanyou. "She will not need it in a moment."

'Don't just stand there, Inuyasha!' Kagome thought with frantic exasperation as a root wrapped around her mouth and cut off her ability to scream. Arms pinned to her sides as the woody vines wrapped tighter around her body, all she could do was squirm and watch in horror, as Inuyasha seemed incapable of helping her or himself.

An arm suddenly wrapped around her waist, jerking her out of the grasp of the roots and against plate armor. As thick spikes dug into her back, she had an immeasurable rush of joy before she was unceremoniously dumped in a heap on the ground. She untangled her limbs in time to see a flutter of white silk descend on the cursed priestess, who had instantly changed her aim to the attacking demon. The arrow tore through an empty red-trimmed sleeve as pallid, spectral soul collectors surrounded the priestess and whisked her out of the path of his claws.

"Ha! See, Inuyasha? She _does_ miss!" Kagome jeered as she clambered to her feet and brushed soil from her pleated green skirt.

"Shut up, Kagome!" The hanyou shot her a fulminating scowl as he drew Tetsusaiga, and then growled at his brother, "Bastard, if you lay a hand on Kikyou, I'll show you what this sword can really do!"

"Will you, now. A half-breed such as yourself can never hope to wield the true power of the Tetsusaiga," Sesshomaru glared down his nose at his brother and flexed his claws, green poison bubbling up and over the tips to fall smoking in the forest undergrowth.

'Not the damn sword, again,' Kagome harrumphed to herself as the brotherly pissing contest escalated. Out loud, she yelled, "Kikyou is getting away with the jewel shard!"

In the blink of an eye, Sesshomaru vaulted toward the priestess who was rapidly climbing into the sky, held aloft by her soul collectors. Inuyasha swore and leapt after him, swinging the giant fang in a clumsy arc that still almost clipped the end of Sesshomaru's boa. Stifling a scream, Kagome cringed as Sesshomaru spun in the air and deflected the next blow with his claws in a deafening clang.

'Don't hurt him!' Kagome crammed her fist against her mouth as fear for the invincible Sesshomaru swept through her. Inuyasha could use the Windscar: she had seen him summon it in defense of Miroku, killing a swarm of lesser demons in a flash of brilliant youki. Granted, it had been the one and only time, but he would do anything for the clay priestess. She felt a subtle surge deep within her, as if she were in an elevator that had just stopped, and pressed a hand to her chest.

Inuyasha swung the sword again and in a flare of white light, it transformed back into its original form: that of a battered old katana. Shock written on his face, Inuyasha dropped from the sky like a stone and landed in a crouch, staring bewildered at the sword in his hand. He shook the pommel, and then swiped the air with it several times but the sword refused to respond.

Sesshomaru landed gracefully in front of him, the corners of his lips twitching slightly as he glanced out of the corners of his eyes at Kagome. Her heart skipped a beat as his eyes flashed over her, molten gold that seemed to meld with her bones. Blushing, she smiled and looked down, suddenly feeling exposed and terribly hot.

"Oi! You broke it!" Inuyasha gave the sword another experimental swing, but it stayed in its tattered, unassuming form. Pointing the chipped tip at his half-brother, he shouted, "What the fuck did you do to my Tetsusaiga?"

Sesshomaru straightened, a mask of cold indifference settling over his aristocratic features. "It is as I said: filth cannot realize the full potential of such a mighty sword. It does not choose you."

'Oh kami, we're back to the sword,' Kagome though, though with much less rancor than before. The look that Sesshomaru had given her, just a brief caress of his eyes, had held an odd approval and she was certain that something significant occurred: if only she could figure out what.

"Well it sure as hell hasn't chosen you!" Inuyasha sheathed the sword and cracked his knuckles. "But I don't need no sword to kick your ass."

"Perhaps it is not Tetsusaiga's choice that matters," the demon lord said quietly, sending Kagome another scalding glance that boiled the blood in her veins, then turned and walked away. Inuyasha blinked several times, seemingly stunned that Sesshomaru had simply left instead of continuing the fight. Trying to remember how to breathe, Kagome stared after his graceful figure, his long hair shimmering in the moonlight, swaying behind him like a stream of mercury.

"What the _fuck_ just happened, Kagome?"

"Huh?" the teen snapped back to an unpleasant reality as Inuyasha stomped toward her, storm clouds darkening his eyes to amber.

He stopped in front of her and crossed his arms over his chest. "Why did that bastard help you?"

Arms and legs akimbo, Kagome snapped back, "Hey! Just because _you_ don't care about me doesn't mean nobody does!"

Inuyasha narrowed his eyes, pushing his face into hers as he growled low in his throat, "Why would he care if you live or die?"

"I-I-I didn't say that he did…" Kagome floundered for a moment and almost thought all was lost until a rather important detail popped into her head. "And you let Kikyou take our shard!"

"I didn't-"

"You did! See?" Kagome gestured to the small clearing with an encompassing flourish of her arm. "She's gone and so is the shard!"

"Don't go blaming this on Kikyou-"

"Osuwari!" Kagome stamped her foot for emphasis and he hit the dirt with a thick crunch.

Inuyasha wailed from his sprawl in the bottom of a small crater and Kagome almost felt guilty until he said, "What the hell was that for?"

"For making no sense!" she hollered, stamping her foot again. Could anyone be more dense and insensitive than this hanyou? She chose to ignore the fact that he had good reason to be suspicious of Sesshomaru's actions.

"Friends!", Miroku's voice broke through their shouting match moments before he stepped between the prostrate hanyou and fuming girl with a placating gesture. "We should be thankful that we are all uninjured, not fighting amongst ourselves!"

Sango grumbled unintelligibly behind him and the traces of a red mark on his cheek showed that it wasn't only Inuyasha who had recently felt a woman's wrath.

"Tell that to her!" Inuyasha peeled his face from the ground to bark at the monk.

Kagome glared at him but bit back the osuwari that threatened to tumble off of her tongue and said petulantly, "He's just mad because our shard was stolen."

The monk's shoulders sagged a bit and Sango gasped. With a frustrated shake of his staff Miroku asked, "Naraku again?"

Kagome sighed heavily, her anger rushing out of her on the current of her breath. "No, it was Kikyou this time." 'But they'll end up in Naraku's hands eventually.'

"Kikyou?" Sango, Miroku, and Shippo asked in horrified unison. Recovering first, Sango said, "But…that doesn't make sense. Why would Kikyou want them?"

"You don't suppose she would give them to Naraku, do you?" Miroku mused, his gaze fixed on the hanyou's back.

Inuyasha pulled himself off of the ground to shout in his face, "Don't be fucking stupid! Kikyou would never do something like that!"

"But then-" Sango started and was cut off by a fuming hanyou.

"I don't fucking know!"

'I know…and you're wrong, Inuyasha, she _would_ do something like that,' Kagome thought to herself. It surprised her a little that the undead miko had gotten caught up in Naraku's web of manipulation, but then again…perhaps she had never broken free of it in the first place. After all, it was Naraku's plotting that had killed her and left Inuyasha sealed to a tree.

However, thoughts of Kikyou and Inuyasha were chased from her mind by a gigantic white dog that snapped at their heels until they disappeared. She could still feel his eyes on her, as if she'd stood downwind of a bonfire and had been dusted with glowing embers. Absently, she let her gaze stray to the path the demon lord had followed into the trees and rubbed the bite on her shoulder, feeling the ghostly prick of fangs on her skin. The bickering of her friends had become white noise in the background; so, she completely missed the piercing stare of the hanyou follow her hand.


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: This is it! Last chapter. Thanks so much for reading this little PWP that actually grew a plot! I appreciated each and every review from FFnet, MMorg, AFF, and A Single Spark – there are few things more rewarding than knowing people like your stuff. Especially big thanks to thymecat and dsm1980, who proof read this fic and helped with ideas when mine had gone dry.

Chapter 10

He was staring at her again.

She didn't have to turn her head to know that his golden eyes were locked on her or that his expression was less than friendly. It had started soon after their last confrontation with Kikyou and Sesshomaru, beginning with brief, befuddled glances, progressing to longer, concentrated looks and had devolved into the suspicious glares that followed her every movement. Even Sango had picked up on the hanyou's strange behavior, and had begun asking the teen rather pointed questions that she didn't want to answer. Kagome would have been inclined to brush her off if the slayer had not been quite so _anxious_. It was unnerving, to say the least, but the true answers to those questions and the reasons behind Inuyasha's dark looks were as yet unspeakable.

Kagome shivered despite the warm patch of sunlight in which she was sitting and the steaming cup of ramen that she cupped in her hands.

"He's staring at you again," Sango leaned slightly toward her and whispered out of the corner of her mouth.

'Way to be discreet, Sango,' Kagome groused to herself. 'I bet he can hear you.' She blew the curls of steam from her cup, taking a quick sip of broth and then mumbling over the rim, "I know."

"I wish you would tell me what really happened the other day," Sango finally hissed when it was apparent that Kagome wasn't going to elaborate. "I'm worried about you!"

"Nothing _happened_. Kikyou took the jewel. Inuyasha and Sesshomaru fought, and then Sesshomaru left. End of story!" Kagome whispered back, casting the hanyou a nervous glance over her shoulder, and as she expected, his ears were perked toward them as he stared unabashedly at her.

"But what about the Tetsusaiga? How could it just stop working?"

"How should I know?" Kagome took another sip from the ramen cup, sucking a few noodles into her mouth and chewing slowly. The Tetsusaiga's refusal to transform wasn't the only problem; Inuyasha was off his game, as well. His reflexes were slower, his stamina lessening, his strength had lost its potency. At first, she'd thought it was because he'd lost his self-confidence when the Tetsusaiga remained inert in his hand, but even his most exuberant claw attack was just not up to what it had been.

Sango sighed heavily and kicked at one of the many small pebbles that littered the ground around their rocky seat. "If we don't figure out how to fix that sword, we'll never complete the jewel. That last demon almost made mincemeat of us."

Nodding, Kagome handed her still mostly full lunch to Shippo, who snatched it up gratefully and began to scarf it down. Even with Sango's superior demon-slaying abilities and Miroku's wind tunnel, they had come to rely on Inuyasha's demon powers and the Tetsusaiga far more than they had ever realized, despite the fact that he had yet to master the Windscar. Though jewel-possessed demons had never been a cakewalk, she was now more than a little worried that they would soon fall prey to a demon with multiple shards and a chip on his shoulder.

The hanyou seemed to have lost some of his power, and with disastrous results.

If that were the case, would Sesshomaru come to her rescue? She had not felt his signature youki anywhere near when the last demon, a mutated wart hog with a shard in each curved tusk, had charged them and had nearly trampled them to death. He had been close by shortly after, but had stayed hidden, much to her mixed disappointment and relief. If he'd appeared again in her defense…well, it wouldn't be pretty. Just his one cameo had Inuyasha more riled up than she'd ever seen him.

'That's not right,' Kagome sat up straighter as she turned over recent events in her mind. 'Sesshomaru has come to my rescue twice now: the first time was when he saved me from Inuyasha's advances. I just didn't know he was my lover, then. Inuyasha probably hasn't forgotten that incident.' She stole a quick glance in his direction to see him sniffing the air mistrustfully, his ears still trained on her. He seemed to feel her gaze, his attention snapping back to her just before she looked away. 'No wonder he is suspicious.'

"Kagome," Sango intruded on her thoughts with a warning in her tone. "Youkai are not to be trifled with."

Kagome gave her a bright, ersatz smile. "Safety first, don't you worry about me!"

Sighing, the slayer rested her head in her hand and fixed Kagome with a firm, no-nonsense stare. "I hope you won't do anything you will later regret."

Blinking several times as she tried to unravel the riddle in Sango's words; Kagome came to the conclusion that Sango was long past being fooled. Perhaps she had purposely not told her about accepting a youkai's suit? "Um…"

"Just be careful," Sango patted her knee and stood, stretching her muscles in a fluid motion that snagged the eyes of the monk who was sitting under a nearby tree and 'meditating'.

"I will," Kagome assured her, though of what, she wasn't quite certain. However, she had the sneaking suspicion that she had just told the slayer more than she had intended.

Sango nodded once, and picked up several clear plastic bottles that were lined up against the boulder, shooting the monk a scathing glare as she walked by him and into the forest. "I'm going to fill these bottles. Kirara, come."

Kagome watched the firecat bound after her mistress, smiling softly as the adorable little kitty disappeared behind the trees. 'She keeps a demon close; I really don't see a difference. Well, maybe a _tiny_ difference…'

Sesshomaru struck a dashing pose in her imagination, a sword slung over his shoulder and his other hand resting loose at his side, his long silver mane tossed by the wind as he cast her a confident smirk.

'Sango wouldn't say those things if she knew that he had saved me twice. Three times, if you count the time we spent in the cave. Ah, my knight in shining armor…maybe without the armor…' The Sesshomaru in her mind's eye was suddenly shirtless and glistened with a thin sheen of sweat, his smile twisting into a come-hither leer that was doing naughty things to her insides. She sighed happily, missing Shippo's rolled eyes but feeling his fluffy tail tickle her leg.

Still wallowing in her fantasy, Kagome's eyes glazed and a silly grin stretched her mouth. 'Fluffy thing…good idea…' A large, furry boa that draped over his shoulder and trailed over his chest, the tip curling around one musclular thigh, replaced Sesshomaru's sword. Interestingly enough, his pants had disappeared as well, to be replaced by a pair of silk maroon boxers worn low enough to show the tempting ridges of muscle that arched toward his groin and complimented the two purple stripes that slashed across his hips. The youkai slowly petted the fur, and then raked his claws through his long hair, all the while staring at her with those smoldering yellow eyes. Kagome licked her lips, completely enthralled and coming back to reality only when Shippo jabbed her sharply with the butts of his chopsticks.

Clearing her throat, Kagome stood up quickly and smooth her skirt over her thighs in a nervous gesture. How could she be caught daydreaming of Sesshomaru with his half-brother watching her like a hawk? "I think I'll, ah…get some water, too."

Flustered and flushed, she snatched up the remaining bottles and hurried away from camp. She had been walking twenty minutes, wrapped up in recriminating thoughts and whispered curses, before she realized that she should have reached the stream a long time ago and that her flight must now look hopelessly suspicious.

Standing amongst the tall trees with the sunlight dappling the leaves with a starry pattern of green and gold, Kagome dropped her face in her hands and moaned, "I can't keep doing this!"

"What _have_ you done, Kagome?" Inuyasha spoke from behind her and she whirled in place, her heart in her throat. He lounged casually against a tree, his arms tucked into his voluminous red sleeves and one knee bent to cross his ankles. His eyes were hooded against the persistent sunlight and watched her from shadows that seemed to cling to his clothes.

"Inuyasha!"

"Well, Kagome?" She thought his eyes flashed red for a moment and fervently hoped that she was mistaken.

"I…nothing! I mean, nothing that you need to worry about…um," she trailed off as he unfolded himself and pushed off from the tree, strolling toward her in an unnervingly predatory manner. Taking a step backward, she unknowingly covered her lover's mark with a hand. "Inuyasha?"

He frowned, and with a low growl, pounced forward and grabbed her wrist, dragging her hand away from her shoulder. Pushing aside the thin fabric of her blouse, they both froze when the bite was exposed. Even the forest seemed to still, birdcalls silencing, the wind holding its breath so as not to rustle the leafy branches. Leaning into her ever so slowly, he inhaled deeply over the scar, his brow furrowing as he licked it gently.

Kagome gasped and tried to pull away, the strange spell he had put over them dissipating at the feel of his tongue on her flesh. It revolted her, almost pained her as a cramp twisted in her gut. "Let me go!"

Snarling, he released her arm, shoving her away from him with enough force to send her staggering backwards several steps.

"Is that what I think it is?" he pointed to her exposed shoulder, suppressed rage choking his throat. Kagome tugged her shirt back in place and covered the bite again with her hand, hugging her other arm to her body in an unconsciously protective gesture. Growling, Inuyasha began to shake, the point of a fang glinting through tightly drawn lips, "Answer me!"

She met the furious gaze of her hanyou friend and thoughts of denial melted away, leaving a deep remorse and an aching regret. He had been her constant companion for months, had protected her with his life, had come to trust her as he'd trusted no other but she had betrayed him. In thought and deed, she'd betrayed the budding platonic relationship and no matter how annoying, rude, or belittling his behavior had been, he hadn't deserved what she'd done. She could rationalize and make excuses all she liked, but that didn't change anything. She was also doing herself a disservice by allowing Naraku to manipulate her into such degrading acts of treachery against her friends that ran so counter to her true nature. If she wanted a real relationship with her lord, she could no longer sneak around in the shadows.

"Inuyasha…I…" she said without breaking the hanyou's gaze and took a deep breath. She gave the mark another firm rub in encouragement. "I'vebeenseeingyourbrotherandI'msososo SO SORRY I LIED!" she wailed the last few syllables and held her breath, waiting for the explosion.

He dropped his head, his bangs hiding his eyes as his claws curled into fists.

"Inuyasha? I'm sorry, please understand that I never meant…"

A hot wind tickled her face as it lifted his hair and tossed it about his body. The rise of youki was thick in the air, crackling along her aura leaving an uncomfortable sizzle against her skin. His fangs seemed to lengthen, jutting awkwardly over his lip, as jagged blue stripes crawled over his cheekbones. She took a hesitant step forward, wondering what was wrong with her friend even though her instincts screamed at her to turn tail and run.

"Inu…yasha?"

In an instant, his claws were in her, tearing through her soft abdomen so quickly that she didn't notice the pain until she hit the ground. She screamed as he reared over her, claws descending in a flash of yellow light and cutting off the shrill sound with a quick swipe to her throat. Oddly, the pain began to recede, throbbing less with each slowed heartbeat until it ceased altogether.

She felt weightless and content as she began to drift in warm grayness, only mildly disappointed when small hands began to scrabble at her. They were trying to catch hold of her, take her somewhere, but she didn't really want to go anywhere with them; the feeling of floating was delicious and new, and she wanted to explore it. A tremor rippled through her incorporeal form, reminding her that something had just happened…something bad? Whatever, everything seemed fine now, if only those hands would leave her alone.

The fingers became more insistent, hooking into her and tugging her along with them, and she sensed their impatience with her resistance. Maybe she was supposed to go with them? Oh well. So be it. She stopped trying to float away and let them guide her, their chattering quiet static on the edges of her awareness.

All of a sudden, they screamed and she was free, though so heavy that she sank and no amount of straining for her previous buoyancy stopped her downward plummet. The gray of her world brightened and took on fierce colors and deafening sounds, but a weight on her chest was smothering her. She gasped, the rush of air like a cleansing fire in her lungs, searing and intoxicating all at once. Blinking away the tears that had sprung to her eyes as the world around her came into focus, she realized that two golden eyes were staring down at her, mere inches from her face. Her heart froze in her chest, her pupils dilating in terror until she became aware of the stripes on his cheeks and the crescent moon on his forehead. With a strangled gasp of relief, she flung her arms around his neck and buried her face in his glorious silver hair. To her wonderment and delight, the arm that had been supporting her back held her close to his body, which was vibrating with a purr-like rumble.

"Kagome! You're not dead!" Shippo exclaimed in a quavering, hysterical voice as he cowered behind Sango's legs, and then leapt up to pounce on her stomach. Halted in mid-air by a vicious growl from Sesshomaru, he twisting spastically in the air and redirected his flight to land on Sango's shoulder.

"Um…no?" Kagome answered as she tried to sort out her spinning thoughts. No, she wasn't dead. She felt pretty good, in fact. "Why…" her voice faded away as a memory of red eyes and slashing claws filled her mind. Wincing, she closed her eyes and took a shuddering breath, then turned her head to gaze at her friends, who were standing several cautious yards away, tense and ready for battle.

"We came as soon as we heard you scream, but…" Sango said slowly, her controlled tone belied by the pallor of her skin, and then cast the demon lord, who still held Kagome to his chest, a wary, bewildered glance. "We found him standing over you with a sword and Inuyasha…"

Kagome followed her glance to a crumpled pile of dark gore on the other side of the clearing and shuddered, but was unable to make sense of what she was seeing.

Miroku nodded, his hand shaking slightly as it passed from his forehead to his chest in a prayer of thanks. "It seems that Lord Sesshomaru is in possession of a mighty sword."

"Kagome, what happened?" Shippo asked from his perch on Sango's shoulder.

She sighed heavily, choosing to ignore Miroku's cryptic comment as she closed her eyes for a moment before answering, "It was all my fault. Inuyasha…" she felt Sesshomaru stiffen against her, "he changed, somehow."

"_Inuyasha_ did this to you?" Shippo asked in stunned disbelief.

Kagome nodded and swallowed noisily, "He was so angry…I think maybe he just lost control of his demon blood...or something." Her friends were staring at the bloody, pulpy pile again and her stomach roiled uneasily. 'What is that?' "Um, where _is_ Inuyasha?"

A light breeze wafted through the clearing, ruffling over the gruesome heap and dislodged a wisp of silver that fluttered free. 'Oh no…'

The pile groaned and shifted slightly, and she was finally able to distinguish a bloodstained hand with its claws buried in the soil. Before she could scream, Sesshomaru had hoisted them both to their feet and pushed the girl behind him, holding her back with his one arm and glaring narrowly at the stirring hanyou.

"Let me go! He's hurt!" Momentarily forgetting that the hanyou had just ripped her to pieces, Kagome tried to dart around him but his grip might have been iron manacles for all the progress she made.

Sango and Miroku shared a worried glance, and then quickly edged around the clearing, keeping as much space between them and the demon lord as they possibly could until they reached the moaning pile of blood-soaked flesh and cloth. Sango stood in front of the injured hanyou as Miroku knelt behind her to check on his wounds. Catching small glimpses of her friends as she strained against Sesshomaru's arm, Kagome gasped in relief when Miroku finally spoke.

"He's still alive, but only just."

"A condition that I will soon rectify," Sesshomaru intoned, though he was too busy holding back Kagome to do more than glower threateningly.

"No, it was all my fault! You can't kill him!" Kagome franticly tugged on his arm, knowing that the taiyoukai meant what he said.

Sesshomaru fixed her with a penetrating look, "He killed you. He will die by my hand as you watch and you shall be avenged."

"Sesshomaru, please don't do this. He would never have hurt me if I hadn't hid everything from him in the first place. I forgive him; I don't want revenge!"

Silence reigned in the small clearing, as the taiyoukai seemed to mull it over. His expression hardly changed, though a small muscle in his jaw ticked periodically and his thoughts flickered through his eyes like candlelight. Staring into their mesmerizing depths, Kagome almost forgot that she was pleading for the life of her friend as her body woke and began to tingle.

Miroku coughed politely, breaking the tension that bound the miko to the youkai. "Kagome," he asked, an eyebrow rising under his bangs of its own accord, "what exactly were you hiding?"

Shippo groaned quietly from Sango's shoulder and she shushed him absently.

"Well," Kagome started, not really knowing how to say it. "You see, I've been seeing Sesshomaru for a while…"

"Seeing, as in you've been bedding him?" Miroku asked with less tact than usual. Shippo snickered.

Kagome nodded slowly and was rewarded by Sango's shocked gasp. All eyes (except for Kagome's, which were on the ground as she blushed furiously) were on the taiyoukai, who had smug curve to his lips and satisfied gleam in his eyes.

"Huh," more of a noisy exhalation than a word, the sound seemed punched from the slayer's gut as she crossed her arms and stared at Kagome with an expression of growing understanding.

"For how long, might I ask?" the monk had rested his uncursed hand on his chin and was now stroking the sides thoughtfully.

"Uh…several weeks…since I was trapped in that cave," she glanced at the crumpled pile of hanyou as he groaned. Relieved that he was showing more signs of life, she still worried that he might not take hearing about her affair now any better than he had before.

"So that _is_ a scent-mark," Sango said as she stared at the bite on the teen's shoulder, now fully revealed since her clothes had been torn. "Kagome, I told you that it was dangerous to mess with youkai, especially taiyoukai who have poor relationships with your companions!"

'I don't think you mentioned that last part, Sango,' Kagome griped to herself, not that she hadn't been able to figure it out. "I didn't know it was him until recently," she with a petulant pout, and a second later realized how slutty that sounded.

"Are you telling us that you were bedding a demon you didn't even _know_?" Miroku asked, his eyes wide in incredulity and a twist of respect. He mouthed a silent 'wow' as he eyed the demon lord, who acknowledged the monk's respect with a slight nod.

"Well, um, yeah…" 'Can I blush any harder? I'll end up with a permanent tomato-face!'

"So, you've been…ah, _with_…Sesshomaru this whole time? Why didn't you tell us?" Sango asked as if she were trying to piece together an elaborate puzzle to which she had lost the box top. Inuyasha groaned louder and it sounded suspiciously like "bastard".

Kagome wrung her hands as she gazed at her friends in supplication from behind Sesshomaru's back. "I am so sorry for lying to you! I never meant it to go on like this, but Inuyasha…and then Naraku found out…"

"What did Naraku do, Kagome?" Miroku asked, his eyes narrowing at the mention of that name, mouth thinning into a grim line. Shippo groaned again.

"He, um. I should never have…but, oh, he said he would tell Inuyasha if I didn't give him the shards!" she finally blurted. "And I knew he wouldn't take it well!"

The humans glanced at the hanyou behind them, broken, bloodied, groaning, and still finding the energy to be pissed. Miroku quirked an eyebrow at Kagome and she shrugged helplessly. "I didn't know what else to do!"

"You could've come to us, Kagome! We're your friends!" Sango ignored the taiyoukai's warning growl as she ran around him to reach her friend, grabbing the girl's shoulders and shaking her.

"But-"

Dragging her into a hug, Sango held her tightly, roughly, and Kagome dissolved into a blubbering mess of teenager. "You forgave me for stealing Inuyasha's sword, remember?" Kagome nodded, watering the slayer's uniform with her tears as she cried against her. "We would've helped you."

"I'm s-s-so s-s-stupid!" Kagome stuttered as she sobbed. Sango and Shippo patted her back reassuringly and shushed her until she was sniffling quietly.

"Come on, Kagome, we'll take you home." No sooner had the words left her mouth than Sesshomaru had grabbed the teen and shoved her behind him once again.

"She will not be going with you."

"She isn't going with you!" Sango snapped, her hand already entwined in the handle of Hiraikotsu.

"Now wait just a minute-" Kagome started, only to be cut off by Miroku, ever the peacemaker, as he stepped away from the prone hanyou to diffuse the brewing conflict.

"Friends, calm yourselves! Sesshomaru, we are eternally grateful that you have restored Kagome's life but we cannot simply let you take her…" Sesshomaru's eyes darkened as Miroku spoke those last words, so he hurriedly added, "…Unless you were to marry her…"

"She has accepted my suit-"

"She has?" Miroku blinked in surprise.

Sango craned her neck to get a good look at the teen, astonishment widening her eyes. "You have?"

"I have?" Kagome wondered aloud. "Oh!" So _that's_ what that strange feeling was when the Tetsusaiga had first failed to transform for Inuyasha. She had transferred the support of her miko powers to the demon lord. 'So he must have felt that, too. I wonder why he didn't try to take Tetsusaiga?'

Sesshomaru continued as if he had not been interrupted, "therefore preparations have been made for her arrival at my home. Marriage is an unnecessary human custom."

"Oi!" the wounded hanyou painfully exclaimed as he peeled his face from the forest floor. Golden eyes glared at the motley group from bruised circles and Sesshomaru tensed, turning to the hanyou with a crack of his knuckles.

Kagome suddenly remembered why she'd been protesting and stomped her foot, "Hey! Don't go planning my life for me! Besides, don't you think I'm a little _young_ to be getting married?"

Sango and Miroku exchanged perplexed glances and Sango shrugged her shoulders before they turned back to the teenager. "No," they said in unison.

Sango added, "If you have already given him your courting gift-"

"She has," Shippo interjected. Kagome scowled at him, wondering how he could know but not surprised that he did. He grinned back and waggled his eyebrows.

"Then you are considered married by youkai tradition," Sango finished.

Kagome glanced quickly between the taijiya and taiyoukai, waiting for one of them to crack a smile and yell, 'Just kidding!' However, Sango retained her serious frown and dark clouds seemed to gather about Sesshomaru's head. Finally, she threw up her hands in exasperation. "I am? Why doesn't anyone tell me these things?"

"Do you now deny this Sesshomaru?" Sesshomaru asked, his voice rumbling from his chest as his eyes narrowed dangerously.

"No! But it's all happening so fast!" Kagome had had many fantasies of the day she would be proposed to, and though the location and face of the man proposing had often changed, the ambiance had always been romantic, his words gentle and adoring, and it had always included a sparkly diamond ring. As far as she could remember, none of them had involved death by claw, an argument in front of her friends and a pissed taiyoukai. Also, he had _asked_. Yes, that was very important. She pointed an accusing finger at her lover, her nose beginning to tingle with tears again as her life spiraled further out of control, "And you haven't even asked me!"

With a raised eyebrow, Sesshomaru acquired the air of one offended.

'Great, Kagome, now you've insulted him.' She put her digit away and gave him a pleading look, "We hardly know each other."

Glancing at Sango for support, she only received a blank stare. 'Oh, right. Arranged marriages and all that.'

"Really?" Miroku asked with a devious grin and a wink at Sesshomaru. "I was under the impression that you knew each other _quite_ well."

Kagome blushed bright red, her frustration forgotten in the heat of embarrassment. "Well…but-but…that's not what I meant and you know it!"

"You ain't marrying that bastard," Inuyasha croaked as he pushed himself up onto his elbows. His nose was crooked, but the stream of blood flowing from his nostrils was down to a sticky trickle.

Kagome rounded on him, amazed and righteously indignant that the hanyou who had just killed her was now trying to tell her what to do. Planting her hands on her hips, lips pursed in a tight line, she snapped, "Don't you start! I can marry whoever I want, and it looks like I've _already_ married _him_!"

"Just so," Sesshomaru stated smoothly as he advanced on his brother, his claws dripping with green poison. "And hold your tongue, half-breed. You will not speak to her, whose life you have taken so rashly."

"The fuck are you rattling on about, asshole?" Inuyasha growled as he tried to stagger to his feet, but only ended up collapsing with a pained groan. "Get over here and I'll finish what you started."

'He doesn't remember killing me,' Kagome realized with a quick clenching of her heart. 'Maybe it's for the best, right now. I'll let Sango and Miroku fill him in later.' "Sesshomaru," Kagome warned as she gave him the universal 'you won't if you want to get laid' look. "Please, just let it go."

He paused, flexing his claws absently as he regarded his half-brother on the ground. The agitation in his youki filled the space around him with crackling energy, but with a disgusted snort, he turned back to Kagome with a measured, calculating look. "I give his life to you. Do with it as you see fit."

'He's granting me a favor. Now, what are the secret youkai rules for that?' Kagome wondered as she smiled hesitantly up at him. "Thank you."

He nodded once, and then strode slowly from the clearing with a languid gesture for her to follow. Hesitating, Kagome glanced back at her companions, her eyes lingering on Inuyasha as he lay fuming in the dirt and refusing to meet her gaze.

"I really am sorry, Inuyasha. I never meant for things to happen like this…but I promise that we'll get those shards back. Then you can make your wish."

He didn't even grunt an acknowledgment and she felt a flash of resentment that he would hold this against her after what he'd done to her. Of course, he didn't remember, but it still hurt. Kagome sighed heavily and shrugged. She'd forgiven him; it was now up to him to forgive her. At the edge of her peripheral vision, Sesshomaru paused, waiting for her.

"Well, um, I guess this is good-bye for now…" she bowed to Miroku, gave Sango a warm hug and Shippo a fond cuddle. "But I'll see you soon. We have a quest to continue!" Ignoring Sesshomaru's argumentative "hn", she hugged Sango once more before scampering after her lover.

XxxxxxxX

"Sesshomaru," Kagome said as they sat side-by-side watching the sun set behind the rolling line of hills below them. Twirling a long blade of grass between her fingers, she decided that the boiling ball of gas had nothing on the eyes of the demon beside her. Her husband. 'Ohmygod! Mom is seriously going to flip when she hears this!'

He arched a brow in silent question and broke her mental hysterics.

"Oh, um. So why did you hide yourself from me for so long?"

Waiting impatiently as he simply stared at her, Kagome began to peel apart the blade of grass.

"It amused me."

"That's not funny," she groused and tore up a handful of grass, tossing it down the slope.

"I suppose that depends on who you are," he quipped, then fixed his attention back on the sunset.

Impotently furious in a matter of microseconds, Kagome ripped up another clump of grass and threw it into his shimmering silver hair. She was on her back a moment later, Sesshomaru looming above her as he pressed her body into the soft ground with his own. Orange light from the sunset gleamed behind his head and set his hair aflame. Slowly, he shook his head, his hair rippling like silk as he showered her face with verdant blades of grass.

He was beautiful, magical, so much _more_ than she had ever, in her wildest dreams, thought she could have. But he was hers! Anger melted into a deep joy that struck a resounding chord in her soul and flooded her body with a feeling so light that she was sure that she would have floated away if he hadn't been there to hold her down. His eyes reflected her adoring smile and seemingly against his will, his lips stretched into a tiny grin that almost struck her dumb. Not quite, though.

"Why did you keep coming back to me? In your father's tomb, you said humans weren't worth loving."

"I changed my mind," he stated matter-of-factly, as if it were an every day occurrence for a human-hating taiyoukai to flip a proverbial bitch and marry one. Speaking of flipping bitches…

"I guess it's good to be the lord," she smirked up at him and wiggled her hips, glad that he'd removed his armor before they'd sat down.

"Hn," he agreed and claimed her lips with a slow, searching kiss.

'It's also good to be the lady,' Kagome thought, smiling against his mouth as she peeled back his kimono. It was very good, indeed.

END

A/N: Now, as I promised…this fic is inspired by the myth of Cupid and Psyche, as suggested by dsm1980. Several of you have guessed correctly, and I can only hope that for the rest of you, this comes as a pleasant surprise and that you don't chew me out for butchering a lovely story. Again, thanks for reading!


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